Stocks rise after release of Fed meeting minutes

Wall Street capped another choppy day of trading Wednesday with modest gains for the major stock indexes, after investors combed the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent interest rate policy meeting for clues about what the central bank may do next to fight inflation.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, its third-consecutive gain, after spending much of the morning and early afternoon wavering between gains and losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, while the the Nasdaq rose 0.3%.

Small company stocks remained in a slump, however, a sign that investors are worried about economic growth. The Russell 2000 gave up 0.8%.