Wall Street stocks recovered some early weakness and turned tentatively higher in morning trading Wednesday, on the back of gains in-store operations and other retailers

Retailers were battered in recent days due to concerns that soaring inflation was eating into their profits. Some of those concerns were eased after the high-end department store operator Nordstrom reported higher sales and raised the hit profit forecast.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.69% to 3,968.80 as of 10.43 a.m. Eastern time zone. The Nasdaq rose 1.03% to 11,380.48, erasing its loss for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 164.26 points or 0.51% to 32,092.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which helps set mortgage rates, held steady at 2.76%.

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The broader market has been volatile with investors worried because of rising inflation and its impact on businesses and consumers. Investors are also concerned about the Federal Reserve’s aggressive plan to raise interest rates to curb inflation and hope the Fed won’t hike the rate too high or too quickly to slow the economy as to cause a recession.

The Fed releases the minutes on Wednesday from its most recent policy meeting, potentially offering more insight into the reasons behind its actions this year.

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The S&P gained ground on Monday but slipped again on Tuesday due to inflation warnings from several big retailers. Inflation has been a key concern throughout the latest corporate earnings season and has kept major indexes in a slump. The S&P 500 is coming off a seven-week losing streak.

Asian markets closed mostly higher. European stock exchanges were also higher.

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The Russia-Ukraine war added more pressure to already rising energy prices, making inflation worse for both businesses and consumers. Supply chain issues become even worse over the last month as China locked down several major cities to contain rising cases of COVID-19.

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On Wednesday, there was an increasingly downcast view of the months ahead from corporate leaders, government officials and other VIPs gathered at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.