U.S. stocks tick up amid Fed minutes

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to end mildly higher Wednesday, as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes from its July meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 21.92 points, or 0.12 percent, to 18,573.94. The S&P 500 added 4.07 points, or 0.19 percent, to 2,182.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 1.55 points, or 0.03 percent, to 5,228.66.

According to the minutes released in the afternoon, some voting Federal Reserve policymakers expect that a U.S. interest rate increase will be needed soon, although there is general agreement that more data is needed before such a move.

"The information reviewed for the July 26-27 meeting indicated that labor market conditions generally improved in June and that growth in real gross domestic product was moderate in the second quarter," said the minutes.

Meanwhile, New York Fed President William Dudley, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, said Tuesday that a rate hike as soon as September was "possible".

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart echoed Tuesday that there could be one or two rate increases this year.

"On balance traders see a reduced risk of rate hikes (after the release of the minutes), especially compared to yesterday when Dudley warned the market odds were too low. As much as some at the Fed would like to hike, there are just too many potential pitfalls to carry a majority in September," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.

In corporate news, shares of Target plunged 6.43 percent to 70.63 U.S. dollars apiece Wednesday after the U.S. retailer lowered its full-year earnings guidance. Enditem