Wall St rises as yields ease, Moderna lifts healthcare stocks

VIDEO SHOWS: n/a STORY: Wall Street's main indexes closed modestly higher on Wednesday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all adding less than a quarter of a percent. Risk appetite got a boost from easing government bond yields. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond fell a day after hitting its highest level since 2007. The 10-year Treasury yield also fell. The moves came after the U.S. Treasury announced it would double the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated bonds. Adam Coons is chief investment officer at Winthrop Capital Management. "Stocks are, you know, marginally up today. And that's really just driven by the digestion of this yield curve control. You're seeing interest rates come down, in particular long end (long-term rates) quite a bit. And so you're probably going to see markets try to use their crystal ball to determine what's coming next. And so I would expect volatility. Today seems like a day of rest to some degree. But I would say that volatility and increased volatility heading into, you know, changes in Fed policy should be the new expectation." Investors, however, barely reacted to minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, which showed deepening concern about inflation with "several" policymakers ready to raise interest rates. "Many" said a rate hike would be needed if inflation does not lower to the central bank's 2% target. :: Archive Stocks on the move Wednesday included Moderna which surged almost 177% after the company said its personalized mRNA cancer therapy developed with Merck cut the risk of melanoma recurrence and spread in a late-stage trial. Merck shares also jumped about 12.5% and it was the biggest gainer in the Dow. ::Marvell Technology Shares of Marvell Technology climbed nearly 10% after the company said it will help develop Google's in-demand custom chips and has offered the search giant the right to buy a potential $12.2 billion stake. And shares of Target rose more than 4% after the retaile