US stocks were little changed, staying near their record highs, in quiet afternoon trading on Wednesday as investors await the minutes from last month's Federal Reserve meeting for hints on when interest rates will be increased. Stock market volumes have been subdued in recent sessions ahead of the details of the April 28-29 policy meeting and as the quarterly earnings season draws to a close.
The minutes of meeting are due at 2:00 pm ET (1800 GMT). While the central bank is broadly expected to raise rates this year, the timing of the move has kept the market on tenterhooks. The Fed has said it will raise rates only when data suggests that the economy is strengthening. "The Fed is going to take a more macro view and will raise rates this year. They're going to overlook the little bumps," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
At 13:05 pm ET (1705 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 16.75 points, or 0.09 percent, at 18,295.64, the S&P 500 was down 1.5 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,126.33 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.07 points, or -0 percent, at 5,069.96. The Dow closed at a record high for the second straight day on Tuesday after hitting an all-time intraday high of 18,351.36. Seven of the 10 major S&P 500 indexes were lower, led by a 0.39 percent fall in the industrials index.