US stocks open mixed ahead of Fed minutes

Adding to the Tuesday's sharp drop, US stocks opened mostly lower as investors remain cautious and avoided taking big positional bets ahead of the FOMC minutes that could provide hint over the timing of the next rate-hike decision.

In early trade, the S&P 500 fell around 3 point to 2044 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 45 point to 17,485. Meanwhile, tech heavy Nasdaq Composite index outperformed broader indices and turned positive to 4726, up 10 points.

Spotlight on FOMC meeting minutes

Uncertainty over the pace and timing of Fed rate hikes has led investors to remain cautious, holding most major indices to trade in a tight range.

On Tuesday, US stock indices erased all of their gains registered on Monday as an upbeat monthly gauge of inflation and hawkish comments from several Fed officials led investors believe that the central bank would eventually decide to raise interest rates, sooner rather than later.

Today's FOMC minutes from the April meeting are likely to reiterate the message that the Fed remains on track to raise interest rates in 2016. Hawkish comments from the minutes would trigger renewed buying interest into the greenback and obstruct expectations of recovery in the equity markets.