U.S. financial markets Wednesday pulled back slightly from their most recent record highs, ending lower for the first time this week.
The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index mostly hovered slightly below the all-time high closes, set a day earlier.
Investors sifted through a batch of favorable corporate earnings as they waited for the Federal Reserve to publish the minutes from its late-October policy meeting.
Traders hoped to glean fresh insight into when the central bank will raise a benchmark interest rate that affects many consumer and business loans.
In the end, the deeper look at the Fed’s deliberation didn’t sway trading meaningfully.
“This does not move the needle a whole bunch,” said John Canally, chief economic strategist for LPL Financial. “The minutes confirm that the Fed remains on track to hike rates about a year from now based on the economy tracking to their forecasts.”
The slide in oil prices continued, despite pivoting upward at times during the day. Benchmark U.S. crude fell 3 cents to close at $74.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
U.S. government bond prices fell.
All told, the S&P 500 index slipped 3.08 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,048.72.
The Dow fell 2.09 points, or 0.01 percent, to 17,685.73. The Nasdaq composite shed 26.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,675.71.
Seven of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 declined, with telecommunications stocks dropping the most. Energy stocks managed the biggest gain.
Avon Products led the index’s decliners, sliding 47 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $9.43.
Lowe’s reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, helped by a nascent recovery in the housing market. The home-improvement retailer also raised its full-year forecast. The stock rose $3.73, or 6.4 percent, to $62.26.
The price of oil finished nearly unchanged as hopes for an OPEC production cut offset an Energy Department report showing that crude inventories increased far more than expected last week.
