US STOCKS-Target, Lowe's results boost Wall St; stocks hold gains after Fed minutes

* Fed policymakers discussed possibility of 50 bp rate cut
* Target, Lowe's jump after better-than-expected results
* Indexes up: Dow 1.03%, S&P 0.85%, Nasdaq 0.95%

(Recasts with release of Fed minutes; changes byline; adds New
York to dateline)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose
on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from retailers pointed to
strength in U.S. consumer demand, and stocks held gains after
minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting last month showed
that policymakers had debated a more aggressive rate cut.
U.S. stocks opened solidly higher following
better-than-expected results from retailers Target Corp TGT.N
and Lowe's Cos Inc LOW.N . Target shares surged 19.4% after the
big-box retailer raised its annual earnings forecast. Lowe's
shares climbed 10.3% after the home-improvement chain beat
profit estimates. Minutes from the Fed's policy-setting meeting on July 30-31,
when the Fed cut rates by 25 basis points, showed that
policymakers debated cutting interest rates more aggressively.
Some participants preferred a 50-basis-point cut, but the
committee was united in wanting to avoid the appearance of being
on a path to further rate cuts. Stocks briefly pared gains following the release of the
minutes at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), but then returned to their
levels prior to the release.
"The stocks still want to see any evidence that the Fed is
going to cut rates," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist
at Baird in Milwaukee.
"I don't think there's anything in here that would be an
'aha!' warning sign to stocks that they're not going to get
another rate cut." he said. "But I also think that the
longer-term picture of where the market sees rates ending up and
where the Fed sees rates ending up might be different right now,
and that's going to have to get resolved at some point."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 268.33 points,
or 1.03%, to 26,230.77, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 24.63 points,
or 0.85%, to 2,925.14 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
75.65 points, or 0.95%, to 8,024.21.