U.S. stocks declined Wednesday, ahead of the release of notes from the last meeting of Federal Reserve federal policy makers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140 points, 0.4%, shortly after the opening bell. The chip index on Tuesday closed at a record high. The S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%.
The shares have been silenced in recent days after a rally that recorded record highs in major indices.
Fresh data from Wednesday showed that U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in January, driven in part by the latest round of stimulus controls and declining numbers of Covid infections. 19. This marked a change from three consecutive months of falling sales during the 2020 holiday shopping season.
An increase in bond yields has caused some investors to re-evaluate their appetite for riskier investments, especially because of the high valuations of many stocks, said Derek Halpenny, head of market research at MUFG Bank. Low bond yields had helped fuel interest in equity markets in recent months, he said.