NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks moved modestly higher on Wednesday with the Standard and Poor's racking up a new all-time closing record. 

Minutes from last month's Federal Reserve monthly monetary committee meeting showed a hesitancy about lowering interest rates due to inflation remaining stubbornly high, and concern over the impact of poilicies of the new administration, particularly in relation to tariffs. "There was some discussion (in the minutes) that there may be some economic slowing ahead," Paul Nolte, senior wealth adviser and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest in Elmhurst, Illinois. told Reuters news agency Wednesday.

"Maybe that's giving investors some thought that the Fed could cut rates. It's still on the table."

That said, (the Fed's) not willing to do anything until they get a little bit more clarity as to what the tariffs look like," Nolte added. "So from that perspective (it's) a wait and see."

The Standard and Poor's 500 rallied to 6,144.15, gaining 14.57 points or 0.24 percent to notch up a new record high on a robust volume of 2.995 billion shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also saw an uptick, closing at 44,627.59 after rising 71.25 points or 0.16 percent, with a volume of 432.386 million shares traded.

Meanwhile, the NASDAQ Composite inched higher by 14.99 points, finishing at 20,056.25, up 0.07 percent on a notably active day with 7.609 billion shares exchanged.

Global Markets End Wednesday in Mixed Territory

Global equity and currency markets delivered a varied performance on Wednesday, with European stocks largely sliding while select Asian indices and currencies recorded modest gains.

Canadian Shares Close Lower

Canadian investors were less upbeat as the S&P/TSX Composite index closed at 25,626.16, losing 22.68 points or 0.09 percent on a volume of 233.516 million shares.

UK and European Markets Under Pressure

The United Kingdom's FTSE 100 closed at 8,712.53, losing 54.20 points or 0.62 percent.

Germany's DAX P dropped 410.87 points to finish at 22,433.63, down 1.80 percent, while France's CAC 40 fell 96.02 points to 8,110.54, a decline of 1.17 percent.

The EURO STOXX 50 I also retreated by 72.67 points to end at 5,461.17, down 1.31 percent.

Other regional players included the Euronext 100 Index, which lost 10.22 points to settle at 1,593.60, down 0.64 percent, and Belgium's BEL 20, which slid 43.88 points to 4,370.16, down 0.99 percent.

Meanwhile, the MSCI EUROPE index recorded a drop of 28.40 points to 2,198.59, down 1.28 percent.

Diverse Results Across Asia and the Pacific

Asian markets showed a mix of results. China's SSE Composite Index bounced back with a gain of 27.05 points to 3,351.54, up 0.81 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 105.79 points lower at 39,164.61, down 0.27 percent.

Hong Kong's HANG SENG INDEX edged down by 32.57 points to 22,944.24, a decline of 0.14 percent, while Singapore's STI Index inched up by 8.48 points to 3,934.04, gaining 0.22 percent.

India's S&P BSE SENSEX slipped marginally by 28.21 points to 75,939.18, down 0.04 percent, and Malaysia's FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 3.96 points to 1,580.88, down 0.25 percent.

South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index outperformed with an increase of 44.71 points to 2,671.52, up 1.70 percent, while Taiwan's TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index fell 62.03 points to 23,604.08, down 0.26 percent.

Shares in Oceania Lose Ground

In Australia, dual benchmarks recorded losses as the S&P/ASX 200 fell 61.80 points to 8,419.20 (down 0.73 percent) and the ALL ORDINARIES dropped 57.60 points to 8,699.10 (down 0.66 percent).

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS also saw a slight decline, losing 17.76 points to close at 13,033.36, down 0.14 percent.

Middle East Markets Close Mixed

Israel's TA-125 ended lower by 7.06 points at 2,602.63, down 0.27 percent. 

Egypt's EGX 30 Price Return Index bucked the trend with an increase of 287.50 points to finish at 30,875.30, up 0.94 percent on a volume of 249.938 million shares.

African markets take a dive

South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index dropped 74.91 points to 4,679.05, down 1.58 percent,