U.S. stocks turn lower after Fed minutes

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks turned lower on Wednesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested the central bank was looking for ways to exit or at least slow down its bond-buying program fairly soon.

Stocks erased gains that came after a stronger-than-expected rise in October retail sales. The S&P 500 was last down 2 points, or 0.1%, to 1,786, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26 points, or 0.2%, to 15,941. The Nasdaq Composite was little changed, edging up 1 point to 3,932. The Dow remained near the milestone level of 16,000 after snapping a four-day win streak in the prior session and failing to hold above that level. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq traded near their own big round numbers of 1,800 and 4,000, respectively. The Fed minutes said the central bank was considering reducing the size of the its asset purchase program even “before an unambiguous further improvement in the [labor-market] outlook was apparent.” Early Wednesday, the Commerce Department said retail sales rose by 0.4% last month, beating forecasts for a flat result. In addition, the Labor Department said the consumer price index dipped by 0.1% in October, roughly matching what economists expected for that inflation gauge. Stock futures added to their gains after these reports were released. In other U.S. economic news, existing-home sales fell 3.2% last month, just about meeting estimates. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-edge-up-after-upbeat-retail-report-2013-11-20