US STOCKS-Nasdaq ends lower as tech slides; inflation concerns weigh

* Retail sales rebound in January
* Fed minutes show policymakers maintaining accomodative
stance
* Verizon, Chevron jump as Berkshire Hathaway reveals big
stakes

(Updates to market close)
By April Joyner
NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq closed lower while
the S&P 500 was little changed on Wednesday as investors rotated
out of technology shares and concerns about inflation added some
pressure on stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose, however, aided in
part by gains in shares of Verizon Communications Inc VZ.N and
Chevron Corp CVX.N , which gained after Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKa.N disclosed major investments in
the companies on Tuesday. Technology shares led losses on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
Apple Inc AAPL.O , PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O and Nvidia Corp
NVDA.O weighed most on both indexes.
Conversely, energy .SPNY led gains among S&P 500 sectors
as a halt in Texas oil production boosted crude prices. A strong
rebound in U.S. retail sales helped consumer discretionary
stocks .SPLRCD advance. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pared losses while the Dow added
to gains after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's
January policy meeting.
All of the meeting's participants supported the decision to
maintain an accommodative monetary policy. The Fed has pledged
to pin interest rates near zero until inflation rises to 2% and
looks set to exceed that goal. "The market is accurately reflecting the combination of
continued low interest rates and a continued accomodative Fed,"
said Oliver Pursche, president of Bronson Meadows Capital
Management in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Yet the Fed's accomodative stance, coupled with President
Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion package for pandemic relief,
has some analysts warning of a coming surge in inflation. As a
result, some investors have worried that the Fed may have to
change course sooner than expected.
Those fears, which have been bolstered by a sharp rise in
benchmark Treasury yields, have contributed to recent market
declines, with investors taking profits from market-leading
technology stocks.
Inflation pressures may force the Fed to revise its policy
in the future, said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at
JonesTrading in Stamford, Connecticut. But, he added, "It's a
high threshold we have to cross in order to get them to react."
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose
91.65 points, or 0.29%, to 31,614.4, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
1.16 points, or 0.03%, to 3,931.43 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 82.00 points, or 0.58%, to 13,965.50.
Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N shares jumped after a report said
the lender won Fed acceptance for its proposal to overhaul its
risk management and governance. U.S.-listed shares of Shopify Inc SHOP.N slid after the
Canadian e-commerce software giant hinted at slower revenue
growth in 2021 as vaccine rollouts encourage people to return to
stores after a year marked by an upsurge in online shopping.