By David French (Reuters) -Wall Street benchmarks ended modestly higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite posting its latest record finish, despite a chaotic half hour when news reports suggested U.

Wall Street ended Wednesday on top as markets grinded out a win in the wake of the latest PPI data and news that President Trump indicated that he will fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

This past April, when President Donald Trump started flirting with the notion of firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell, stocks and the dollar tumbled because investors worried that even talking about such a move crossed a red line.

Wall Street benchmarks closed modestly higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq Composite achieving its latest record finish, despite a chaotic half hour when news reports suggested U.S. President Donald Trump was set to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Markets got back to treading water this week, as inflation and tariff concerns have some analysts pushing the next interest rate cut to December.

JPMorgan's Brenda Duverce is initiating coverage on the AI startup today. Duverce said OpenAI stands to shake up the search market further in the years ahead, with an unrivaled brand and a $700 billion total addressable market potential.

The S&P 500 reverses earlier losses to close just shy of a record.

Japan's exports fell for a second straight month as sweeping U.S. tariffs took a toll on the country's manufacturers, and Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard pulled its $47 billion bid to buy Seven & i Holdings, citing a lack of constructive engagement by the Japanese retailer.