By Saumya Vaishampayan And Alexandra Scaggs
U.S. stocks opened lower Wednesday after two consecutive days of
gains for the Dow industrials and the S&P 500.
Investors are looking ahead to the release of minutes from the
Federal Reserve's latest monetary-policy meeting at 2 p.m.
Eastern.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 10 points, or 0.1%, to
16909. The S&P 500 index shed two points, or 0.1%, to 1980 and
the Nasdaq Composite Index shed eight points, or 0.2%, to 4520.
Stocks rose Tuesday, which marked the third-slowest full trading
day of the year. The Dow gained 0.5% to 16919.59 and the S&P
500 rose 0.5% to 1981.60.
Central bankers are in the spotlight this week, between the Fed
meeting minutes and a closely watched annual gathering of central
bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen
and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi are scheduled to
speak.
Investors will be eyeing both to determine the outlook for
central-bank policy. If Wednesday's minutes indicate that officials
are willing to keep short-term interest rates low, stocks could
push higher, said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist for
State Street Global Advisors' U.S. Intermediary Business.
"The [economic data] that we're seeing continue to indicate that
the economy is improving, particularly areas where we had
structural problems like housing and labor, yet inflation remains
fairly benign," he said. "That is a very positive environment for
U.S. stocks."
Strategists say that low interest rates, paired with improving
economic data and corporate earnings, have driven the stock market
higher this year. The Dow and the S&P 500 recovered from a
pullback in January and early February to advance to a series of
fresh records.
Stocks have recently staged a recovery from a mid-July pullback,
which was sparked by a bout of geopolitical fears and concerns
about the end of the Fed's loose monetary policy. As of Tuesday's
close, the Dow was off 1.3% from its July 16 record and the S&P
was just 0.3% below its July 24 record.
European stocks pulled back, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index
down 0.4%.
Treasury prices fell as well, pushing the yield on the 10-year
Treasury note up to 2.408%, according to FactSet.
In corporate news, Lowe's Cos. Inc. reported
better-than-expected results in the second quarter. But shares came
under pressure as the company lowered its sales outlook for the
full year. Shares fell 2.8%.
PetSmart Inc. said it would explore strategic alternatives,
including a possible sale. The company said it would implement a
cost-reduction program. Shares rose 1.7%.
In commodity markets, crude-oil futures rose 0.5% to $93.38 a
barrel. Gold futures tacked on less than 0.1% to $1,297.20 an
ounce.