Investing.com – Wall Street registered a second consecutive session of losses on Wednesday, pulling back further from record highs reached in the first session of the week, as investors looked ahead to the minutes from the last meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed) and digested a bullish read on crude inventories.
At 15:53GMT, or 11:53AM ET, the Dow 30 fell 77 points, or 0.42%, the S&P 500 lost 9 points, or 0.42%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 29 points or 0.55%.
In a light economic calendar session, market participants were waiting to see if the Fed meeting minutes at 18:00GMT, or 14:00ET, would provide clues into the timing of the next rate hike.
Odds for the Fed to return to monetary policy this year had increased on Tuesday after hawkish remarks from New York Fed chief William Dudley and Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockhart.
Fed fund futures are currently pointing to a 15% chance of rate hike in September, with a probability of 53.5%, according to according to Investing.com’s Fed rate monitor tool.
Ahead of the minutes Wednesday, St. Louis Fed president James Bullard will give a speech on the economy and monetary policy at 17:00GMT, or 13:00ET, with a follow-up Q&A.
Meanwhile, crude pared losses in U.S. morning trade after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week ended August 12. Market analysts' expected a crude-stock gain of 0.5 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply drop of 1.0 million barrels.
U.S. crude futures gave up 0.43% to $46.38 by 15:54GMT, or 11:54AM ET, while Brent oil gained 0.30% to $49.38. Both barrels had hit session lows of $45.86 and $48.55, respectively.
In earnings news, Staples Inc (NASDAQ:SPLS), the biggest U.S. office supplies retailer, reported a 3.7% drop in quarterly sales ahead of Wednesday's opening bell, reflecting a lower store count and a strong dollar. Shares were down more than 6%.
Shares of Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) also tumbled by a similar amount after reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that missed analysts' expectations. The home improvement retailer also lowered its full-year guidance.
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) reported earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations by 11 cents a share and rose slightly over the prior year, while revenue came in roughly in line with forecasts. Yet given what the company characterized as a "difficult" retail environment, the retailer lowered its guidance for the full year. Shares were off 6%.
Meanwhile, Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) will lay off around 14,000 employees, equivalent to nearly 20% of its workforce, according to a report citing sources close to the company from tech news site CRN. The blue-chip network equipment maker lost more than 2% on Wednesday ahead of reporting fiscal fourth quarter earnings after the closing bell.