U.S. stocks end mixed after Fed minutes

U.S. stocks traded in a narrow range and ended mixed on Wednesday, as Wall Street digested the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 32.60 points, or 0.16 percent, to 20,775.60. The S&P 500 lost 2.56 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,362.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 5.32 points, or 0.09 percent, to 5,860.63.

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

Fed officials expressed their confidence in the economy and viewed next interest rate hike would be "fairly soon", minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting showed Wednesday.

Fed officials also emphasized the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration's policies.

"The FOMC expects to raise rates soon, but is waiting for data before deciding exactly when," 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.

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. Endit