US open: Dow and S&P edge lower ahead of Fed minutes

US stocks edged slightly lower early on Wednesday, as investors awaited the release of minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting.

Just after 15:00 London time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 31 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq lost four and 20 points respectively.

On Wednesday, investors will closely monitor minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s April 29 meeting, which are released at 19:00 BST and could shed light on the timing of the first interest rates hike.

“Since removing its forward guidance earlier this year, the Fed has offered very little insight into when that first rate hike will come and that is making investors quite anxious, particularly around these kinds of releases,” said Craig Erlam at Oanda.

“The Fed has claimed any rate hike will be data dependent which doesn’t offer the kind of transparency than we’ve had in the past.”

Meanwhile, applications for US home mortgages fell, data released on Wednesday showed.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its seasonally adjusted index of application activity, which covers home purchase demand and refinancing demand, dropped 1.5% in the week ended 15 May.

Retailers disappoint

In company news, home improvement retailer Lowe’s Companies fell 3.83% after its first quarter earnings fell short of estimates.

Craft selling website Etsy plunged 22.7% after its first quarterly earnings fell short of expectations late on Tuesday.

Office goods retailer Staples fell 1.07% after reporting a drop in sales, while Hormel Foods advanced 0.13% after its second quarter earnings per share rose 29%, while retailer Target Corporation rose 0.82%.

Pharmaceutical group Sarepta Therapeutics surged 35.5% after saying late on Tuesday it will start submitting data to the Food and Drug Administration for its muscular dystrophy treatment to begin the marketing-approval process.

Elsewhere, Japanese stocks ended at their highest level in 15 years, while European markets moved in tight ranges.

The dollar gained 0.28% and 0.33% against the yen and the euro respectively but fell 0.44% against the pound, while gold futures fell 0.24% to $1,209.60.

Oil prices staged a solid rebound, with West Texas Intermediate climbing 1.2% to $58.69 a barrel, while Brent crude gained 1.3% to $64.86 a barrel.