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UnitedHealth ( UNH ) gains on Q1 profit beat

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Fed Chair Jerome Powell sees higher rates for longer

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Indexes: Dow up 0.23%, S&P down 0.08%, Nasdaq up 0.01%

(Updates to 1449 ET)

By Chibuike Oguh

April 16 (Reuters) -

Wall Street stocks were mixed on Tuesday as Treasury yields

climbed, with investors weighing the likely path of interest

rates in a resilient U.S. economy with persistent inflation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday

recent inflation data

has not given

policymakers enough confidence to ease credit soon, noting

that the U.S. central bank may need to keep rates higher for

longer than previously thought.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average got a boost from

UnitedHealth Group's ( UNH ) better-than-expected quarterly

results.

"People are trying to balance this two-sided narrative:

U.S. economic growth, which looks really good, and at the same

time the inflation picture and interest rates, which will

eventually be problematic for the equity market," said James St.

Aubin, chief investment officer at Sierra Mutual Funds in

California.

A report on Monday showed retail sales grew more than

expected in March, a sign of U.S. economic resilience that

helped push benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields

to five-month highs on Tuesday.

As of 02:49 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 86.69 points, or 0.23%, to 37,821.80, the S&P 500

lost 3.82 points, or 0.08%, to 5,058.00 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 2.13 points, or 0.01%, to 15,886.66.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are nearly 4% off from record

high levels reached last month.

Shares of

Morgan Stanley ( MS )

added 3.7% after its first-quarter profit beat

estimates on resurging income from investment banking.

Bank of America ( BAC ) dropped 3.9% after the lender posted

lower first-quarter profits as its loan loss provisions grew.

Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) slipped 1.6% as the drugmaker's

revenue missed analysts' estimates after sales from its

blockbuster psoriasis drug, Stelara, fell short of expectations.

Tesla shed 2.7%, a day after falling over 5% on

news that the EV marker plans to lay off more than 10% of its

global workforce.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.42-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE, which had 16 new highs and 154 new lows. On the

Nasdaq, 1,487 stocks rose and 2,641 fell as declining issues

outnumbered advancers by a 1.78-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and eight new

lows while the Nasdaq recorded 27 new highs and 329 new lows.