US Stock Markets Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones Fall Ahead Of Fed Minutes

The US stock market edged lower on Wednesday as traders awaited fed minutes data. The S&P 500 fell marginally by 0.08%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.14% or 58.99 points, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.11%, or 20.03 points.

The S&P 500 stood at 5,747.97 at the opening bell, down by 3.10 points or 0.05%.

In the early minutes of trading, six of the 11 sectoral indices were trading in green, with healthcare and industrial leading the surge. Energy and communication were among the two indices edging lower.

“A less-dovish tone from Fed speakers over the course of the last week contributed to the uptick in broad market volatility, so more of the same could pressure markets again today,” said Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report told Bloomberg.

Among major companies, Nike Inc., Procter & Gamble, McDonald's Corp. and Coca-Cola Co. logged sharp gains, whereas Alphabet, Chevron, Boeing and Tesla slipped in early trade.

The earnings season will kick off on Friday with JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo announcing their results.

“There’s still a tug-of-war taking place between the ‘Big 4’ tailwinds (stimulus, disinflation, resilient growth, and healthy corporate performance) and rich valuations... and the result is an SPX that’s caught in a sideways price pattern (albeit one that’s biased slightly to the upside),” wrote Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli, reported CNBC.

As the US market opened, spot gold fell 0.41% to $2,611.20 an ounce. Crude oil prices slipped, with Brent trading 1.92% lower at $75.70 per barrel.

The Bloomberg Dollar Index was up 0.22% at $102.77, but the British Pound fell 0.3% against the greenback, while the Japanese yen was down 0.5%.

Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency, fell 0.72% to $61,877.70.