NEW YORK, New York - Wall Street struggled to find its footing on Wednesday after Fed chief Jerome Powell vowed to rid the nation of excessive inflation.

"The process is highly likely to involve some pain but the worst pain would be from failing to address this high inflation and allowing it to become persistent," Powell told the European Central Bank's annual conference in Sintra, Portugal Wednesday.

"We expect significant volatility this summer, with 'face-ripping' short-covering rallies followed by economically-inspired market slumps," CNBC reported Wells Fargo senior equity analyst Christopher Harvey as saying in a note Wednesday. "While a much-anticipated market 'washout' could catalyze a more sustained move higher, we think the market will not sustain a rally until it believes the Fed will toggle from a 50-75bp tightening to a more mundane 25bp increase," Harvey said.

The Dow Jones at least managed to finish in the black, rising 82.32 points or 0.27 percent to 31,029.31.

The Nasdaq Composite dipped 3.65 points or 0.03 percent to 11,177.89.

The Standard and Poor's 500 softened 2.72 points or 0.07 percent to 3,818.83.

The U.S. dollar spiked higher with the euro crumbling to 1.0441 by the New York close Wednesday. The British pound fell to 1.2116. The Japanese yen was weak at 136.60. The Swiss franc edged up a tad to 0.9551.

The Canadian dollar dropped to 1.2896. The Australian dollar eased to 0.6876. The New Zealand dollar was friendless at 0.6221.

In Europe, the German Dax took a major hit, dropping 1.73 percent. The CAC 40 in Paris, France was down 0.90 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 declined 0.15 percent.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 244.87 points or 0.91 percent to 26,804.60.

China's Shanghai Composite retreated 47.69 points or 1.40 percent to 3,361.52.

The Australian All Ordinaries was stripped of 75.50 points or 1.09 percent to close Wednesday at 6,877.90.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 fell 59.99 points or 0.54 percent to 10,958.81.

South Korea's Kospi Composite plummeted 44.10 points or 1.82 percent to 2,377.99.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 422.08 points or 1.88 percent to 21,996.89.