Wall St rises as yields ease, Moderna lifts healthcare stocks

U.S. stocks edged higher on Wednesday as easing Treasury yields helped lift risk appetite, while Moderna’s blockbuster rally boosted healthcare. Markets responded modestly to minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting, which showed growing concern about inflation, with “several” policymakers ready to raise rates if inflation doesn’t fall toward the 2% target. After the 30-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007 the prior day, it fell Wednesday following a Treasury announcement to double buyback liquidity support for longer-dated bonds. Moderna surged more than 137% after saying its personalized mRNA cancer therapy with Merck reduced the risk of melanoma recurrence and spread in a late-stage trial. Healthcare rose more than 3% to a record as the Dow gained 0.24%. Marvell shares rose over 7% after linking with Google custom chips and offering Google rights to a potential $12.2 billion stake.