U.S. stocks drift lower ahead of Fed minutes

U.S. stocks narrowly fluctuated below flatline amid soft economic data in the morning session Wednesday, as investors were awaiting the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 33.43 points, or 0.19 percent, to 18,014.15. The S&P 500 fell 4.21 points, or 0. 20 percent, to 2,096.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 3. 31 points, or 0.07 percent, to 4, 895.95.

Wall Street mainly focused on the release of minutes from the Fed's January policy meeting in the afternoon Wednesday. Analysts expected Fed officials to show concern about low inflation and uncertainty over the debt negotiations between Greece and the eurozone, suggesting they could leave rates on hold until later this year.

Economic data came in generally negative. The U.S. Labor Department said on Wednesday its seasonally adjusted producer price index (PPI) for final demand decreased 0.8 percent in January, while final demand prices moved down 0.2 percent in both December and November. It was the third straight month of decline in the PPI.

"The effects of a strong dollar cannot be overlooked, despite recent volatility. The divergence in economic strength between the United States and other developed nations pushes investors toward dollar stability, which acts as a premature monetary tightening on the domestic economy and limits inflation both because imported goods prices are falling and US manufacturers must compete with these cheaper goods at home and abroad," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial.

U.S. private-owned housing starts dropped 2 percent in January from a month earlier to an annual rate of 1.065 million, missing market expectations of a rate of 1.07 million, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.

Industrial production for January rebounded 0.2 percent after a December decrease of 0.3 percent, slightly below market consensus, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. Endite