Wall Street was little changed on Wednesday as gains in technology stocks were overshadowed by steep losses in energy shares, while investors awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting for more clues on interest rate hikes this year.
The Fed, which lifted interest rates and unveiled details of its plan to cut its mammoth crisis-era bond portfolio at its mid-June meeting, will release minutes at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).
A recent set of tepid economic data and an inflation rate below the central bank’s 2 percent target may have a bearing on its rate hike plans.
“Markets will also be paying very close attention to see if the minutes suggest that the recent fall in inflation is ‘transitory’, with suggestions of higher rates still on the cards, unless the U.S. economy decelerates,” said Lukman Otunuga, analyst with FXTM Research.
U.S. factory goods orders are likely to drop 0.5 percent in May, compared with a 0.2 percent decline in April. The data is expected at 10 a.m. ET.
At 9:43 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 28.82 points, or 0.13 percent, at 21,450.45 and the S&P 500 .SPX was down 1.58 points, or 0.06 percent, at 2,427.43.
However, the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 9.72 points, or 0.16 percent, at 6,119.78.
Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the energy index’s .SPNY 0.99 percent fall leading the decliners.
Crude oil was down more than 1 percent as rising OPEC exports turned sentiment more bearish, dragging down shares of Exxon and Chevron by more than 1 percent.
The tech sector .SPLRCT led the gainers with a 0.59 percent gain.
Tech stocks have been volatile in the past few weeks on concerns over the sector’s valuation, after powering the S&P’s record run this year.
Shares of Apple , Microsoft, Alphabet and Intel reversed premarket losses to trade higher in early trading.
Baidu rose 2 percent after the Chinese internet search company struck a deal with TomTom to develop high-definition digital maps used for computer-assisted driving.
Monogram Residential Trust jumped 22.2 percent after a Greystar fund said it would buy the luxury apartment developer in a deal valued at about $3 billion.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,820 to 787. On the Nasdaq, 1,550 issues fell and 884 advanced.
