US stocks fell on Wednesday, before the release of the notes from the last meeting of Federal Reserve lawmakers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140 points, or 0.4%, just after the opening bell. The blue-chip index closed higher on Tuesday.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1%.
The stock has been silenced in the past few days, after an increase that saw the main indexes reach record highs.
New data on Wednesday showed that US retail sales rose more than expected in January, driven in part by the latest round of stimulus checks and a drop in Covid-19 infection numbers. This marked a three-month turnaround in sales declines during the 2020 holiday shopping season.