Minutes from latest Federal Reserve meeting due in the afternoon
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks on Wednesday were nearly unchanged after a report on the housing market showed improvement, but equities stalled after a recent run that had the indexes at multi-year highs.
“We’re pushing up at levels now where a bit of a pullback is in our near future, the question is how severe,” said Andrew Fitzpatrick, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates Inc.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.15% fell 11.73 points to 13,191.85.
The S&P 500 index SPX -0.07% fell 1.4 point, or 0.1%, to 1,411.77.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP -0.02% slid almost 1 point to 3,066.63.
The National Association of Realtors reported sales of existing homes rose 2.3% in July, with the data in line with expectations and illustrating a pickup in activity in the housing market.
“Some of the data is getting a little better, and it could cause the chances of more Fed easing to decrease,” Fitzpatrick added of speculation on whether the Federal Reserve would embark on a third round of bond buying.
Minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting are due at 2 p.m. Eastern.
Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
