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U.S. stocks finished mixed on Wednesday, following two job prints that showed the labor market remains tight amid sticky inflation.

Wall Street also heard from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday morning. Powell continued to stress that "no decision" has been made on the size of the Fed's upcoming interest-rate increase at its March policy meeting.

"When say we will look at the totality of data, that will include these next reports. We will carefully analyze. Haven't made a decision on the March meeting. Larger point is that we are not on a preset path," said Powell during his second day of testimony before Congress.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) ended the day up 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) declined by 0.2%. Contracts on the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.4%.

Bond yields inched higher alongside a stronger dollar. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked up to 3.98% Wednesday.

U.S. stocks plummeted Tuesday after Powell said during his Senate Banking Committee testimony that interest rates may rise “higher” than previously expected as the Fed continues a persistent fight against inflation.

Powell’s comments on Capitol Hill triggered a 1.5% selloff in equities, according to JP Morgan’s trading desk. Tuesday’s losses saw every sector lower, with financials and real estate logging the biggest declines for the day.

Treasury yields were higher, with the 2-year yield tipping above 5%, while the spread between the 10-year and 2-year US Treasury yields inverted for the first time since September 1981. According to strategists at Deutsche Bank, reaching this level signals a recession could be underway or has occurred within a maximum of eight months.

“Powell’s speech indicates that the Fed will heavily depend on near-term data for upcoming rates decisions,” Michael Feroli, Chief U.S. Economist at JP Morgan, wrote in a note Wednesday morning.

"With January’s macro data mostly printing on the hawkish side, NFP Friday and CPI next Tuesday are the most critical catalysts for Fed’s decision between 25bp and 50bp,” Feroli added.

Still, on the economic data side, ADP’s monthly read on private payroll growth rose by 242,000 in February, above consensus expectations for 200,000. ADP also tracked pay growth for those workers who stayed in their position, which decelerated to 7.2% last month, the slowest pace of gains within in the last year.

“There is a tradeoff in the labor market right now,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP, wrote in the press release. "We're seeing robust hiring, which is good for the economy and workers, but pay growth is still quite elevated. The modest slowdown in pay increases, on its own, is unlikely to drive down inflation rapidly in the near term.”