Dow sets record as dollar falls

The dollar weakened, longer-maturity U.S. debt rose and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit a record high after traders interpreted the minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting as slightly dovish even though policy makers are expected to raise rates again this year.

“What came out today has kind of been the narrative since (Janet) Yellen — the narrative being that there’s going to be a rate hike in December — but at the same time there’s increasing concern about inflation,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Leuthold Group LLC. “Well Yellen sort of laid out both of those in her testimony.”

The euro strengthened earlier and Spanish assets held their advance as the country’s government maintained a hard line on Catalonia’s independence bid. Spain’s benchmark IBEX 35 Index jumped to a week-high. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stopped short of suspending Catalonia’s government Wednesday, though starting a process that could lead to that. The Spanish relief rally failed to lift equities elsewhere, however, with the Stoxx Europe 600 little changed.

Rajoy said he would seek an explanation from Carles Puigdemont after the Catalan president’s announcement late Tuesday that he had a mandate for independence, but would hold off and instead seek talks with the Spanish government. The formal demand for clarity may be a first step toward disbanding the regional government and moving control to Madrid.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 22,864.02, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 percent.