The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54.57 points, or 0.16 percent, to 34,934.27. The S&P 500 increased 3.94 points, or 0.09 percent, to 4,475.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 15.67 points, or 0.11 percent, to 14,124.09.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy up 0.76 percent, leading the gainers. Communication services slipped 0.2 percent, the worst-performing group.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded flat with five of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on an upbeat note.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed's policy-making committee, on Wednesday released minutes of its January meeting.
"With inflation well above 2 percent and a strong labor market, members expected that it would soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate," said the minutes.
"Members agreed to continue to reduce the monthly pace of the Committee's net asset purchases, bringing them to an end in early March," showed the filing.
On Monday, James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, reiterated that he would like to see the Fed front-load rate hikes to tame inflation.
On the economic front, U.S. retail sales rose 3.8 percent in January after dropping by a revised 2.5 percent in December, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 2.1 percent gain.
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