Stocks rose Thursday, rebounding after earlier losses as Wall Street weighed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments on the central bank continuing to fight inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrials faded 37.31 points to open Thursday at 31,543.97
The S&P 500 dipped 3.89 points to 3,975.39
The NASDAQ Composite fell 16.13 points to 11,775.84.
Stocks slid during a Q&A session from Powell at the Cato Institute where he reiterated that the central bank will do what it takes to fight inflation. He also signaled that a pause in rate hikes or a pivot to cutting interest rates is not coming soon.
Earlier in the morning, the European Central Bank hiked interest rates by 0.75 percentage point, raising its deposit to 0.75% from zero, in a largely expected move to tamp down inflation.
The stock market is coming off a solid rebound. On Wednesday, the major averages posted their best day since Aug. 10, with the NASDAQ snapping a seven-day losing streak.
Still, stocks remain in a downtrend overall as concerns about a slowing economy and further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve are pushing some investors away from riskier parts of the market.
The health-care sector traded 1.3% higher, led by gains in shares of Regeneron, which were up 18% and on pace for their best day since Nov. 9, 2016. The pharmaceutical stock got a boost from positive trial results for a potential retinal treatment.
Treasury prices faded, raising yields to 3.28% from Wednesday's 3.27%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices gained $1.53 to $83.47 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $9.90 to $1,717.90 U.S. an ounce.