U.S. stocks open lower ahead of Fed minutes

U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday, as Wall Street awaited the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.

Traders kept a close eye on the central bank's minutes, which are scheduled for release in the afternoon, for more clues on when and how many times it will raise interest rates this year.

"Recent speeches from the Fed's Chair and Vice Chair have focused on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision making process, with a particular emphasis on combining models and policy rules with human judgment," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last week that waiting too long to raise rates could force the central bank to raise rates more rapidly, which could risk disrupting financial markets and pushing the economy into recession.

The FOMC is scheduled to meet on March 15. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, market expectations for a March rate hike were 17.7 percent.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 29.32 points, or 0.14 percent, to 20,713.68. The S&P 500 lost 4.71 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,360.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 5.58 points, or 0.10 percent, to 5,860.37.

U.S. stocks extended gains on Tuesday, notching fresh record highs, as investors mainly digested a slew of corporate earnings.

U.S. equities have posted sharp gains since Trump won the presidential election last November, as investors bet that he would pursue massive corporate tax cuts, deregulation and infrastructure spending. Endi