US STOCKS-Wall Street wavers ahead of first Fed policy decision under Warsh

US stock indexes experienced choppy trading on Wednesday, awaiting the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision under new Chair Kevin Warsh, amidst mixed market performances.

U.S. stock indexes wavered in choppy trading on Wednesday, as investors awaited the first interest rate decision under new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.

The indexes have stalled after a sharp rally on Monday when President Donald ‌Trump announced a preliminary U.S.-Iran peace deal that sent oil prices tumbling and eased inflation fears. Shares of highly valued chipmakers rebounded from Tuesday's drop. Broadcom rose 5.7% and Micron Technology gained 3.7%.

Elon Musk's SpaceX fell 3% and was set to end lower for the first time since last week's blockbuster market debut, which pushed the company's market valuation above $2 trillion. Other heavyweights, ‌including Amazon and Alphabet , also lost steam.

Banks were a bright spot. Shares of Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs touched record highs in late morning trading. Traders ‌are keenly waiting for the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, which is set to be announced at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Policymakers are widely expected to hold interest rates unchanged at the 3.50%-3.75% range as they wrestle with inflation pressures from higher oil prices fueled by the Middle East war. Investors will also keep a close watch on the new Fed chair's first press conference for his views on inflation, unemployment and the economic outlook.

"I'm ⁠of the ​camp that the Fed should really continue ⁠to take a wait-and-see approach. Based on the data today, I would expect that the Fed will not move this year at all," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Cresset Capital Management. Data showed U.S. retail ⁠sales increased more than expected in May, with households purchasing more cars and other vehicles even as they paid higher prices for gasoline.

Traders see the Fed holding rates through much of ​the year, but are betting on a nearly 43% chance of a 25-basis-point rate hike in December, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. At 11:54 a.m. ET, ⁠the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 229.58 points, or 0.44%, to 52,229.25, the S&P 500 gained 3.97 points, or 0.05%, to 7,515.32 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 7.15 points, or 0.03%, to 26,369.20.

U.S. stocks have partially recovered ⁠from ​an early June slump, with the blue-chip Dow touching record highs for the past two sessions, as a resilient U.S. economy, broadening of the rally beyond tech shares and falling oil prices aided sentiment. However, oil prices edged higher on Wednesday after Trump said the new ceasefire agreement with Iran was not final and that the war could resume ⁠if he is unsatisfied.

CME Group slipped 4.3% after the exchange operator said its CEO, Terry Duffy, will step down on March 1, and transition to the role of ⁠executive chairman. Shares of Allbirds soared 60% after ⁠the footwear maker-turned-AI company changed its name to Smartbird and appointed former Amazon executive Nadia Carlsten as CEO.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.37-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.78-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs ‌and five new lows, while the ‌Nasdaq Composite recorded 61 new highs and 57 new lows.