U.S. stock indexes crept to small gains early Wednesday, as the market awaited the minutes from the Federal Reserve's May 2 and 3 meeting. FANG stocks such as Facebook (FB) and Amazon (AMZN) were mostly higher.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 inched up less than 0.1% and barely above break-even respectively, while the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average added 0.1%. The small cap Russell 2000 echoed the 0.1% gains. Volume in the stock market today was down on both major exchanges.
The Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its May 2 and 3 meeting at 2 p.m. ET. The Street will be looking for clues on rate hikes in the minutes, but expectations are widespread for a rate hike in June.
In early action Wednesday, blue chips were nearly evenly divided between winners and losers. Losers in the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average included Home Depot (HD), which fell 1%. On the upside, Coca-Cola (KO) and Procter & Gamble (PG) rose 0.7% and 0.5% respectively.
Building products retailer Lowe's (LOW) dropped 3% shortly after the open. The home improvement retailer reported quarterly results that missed on earnings by about 3% and fell short on earnings by 1%. Lowe's also offered weaker-than-expected guidance for the full year.
In April, Lowe's cleared a 84.10 buy point in a flat pattern within a larger consolidation. After a 2.5% gain, the stock rolled over, falling under the buy point and on Tuesday under its 50-day moving average line.
In the Nasdaq 100, electric-car maker Tesla (TSLA) popped 1% higher in fast trade. The stock is holding above its 50-day line and is moderately extended from an April breakout.
Meanwhile, the popular FANG stocks were mostly up. Facebook advanced 1% in strong volume. Amazon added 0.2% in busy trade. Netflix (NFLX) dipped 0.1% in above-average turnover, and Alphabet (GOOGL) coasted 0.4% higher in heavy volume.
In economic news, mortgage applications for the week rose 4.4%.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported its house price index gained 0.6% vs. the consensus estimate of 0.5%.
Existing-home sales for April slowed to an annualized rate of 5.57 million units, below views for 5.65 million.
