NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were little changed early Wednesday ahead of a Federal Reserve policy announcement that is expected to result in an interest rate hike.
Analysts will be assessing the Fed statement and commentary from Fed Chair Janet Yellen's news conference as far as signals about future interest rate increases. Suggestions of more than two hikes in 2017 could rattle the market, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
US data were mixed, with retail sales edging up 0.1 percent in November, a slower pace than expected.
However, US wholesale inflation rose significantly during the same month, with final demand producer price index growing 0.4 percent.
About 25 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 19,885.12, down 0.1 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 was down 0.1 percent at 2,270.54, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent at 5,470.63.
Wells Fargo slumped 2.3 percent after the Federal Reserve rejected its so-called "living will" strategy, a plan for dismantling banks if they go bankrupt. The Fed barred Wells Fargo from opening new international branches until it fixes the deficiencies.
General Motors dropped 3.1 percent on reports that its China joint venture with SAIC Motor Corp is being investigated for possible antitrust violations. A Bloomberg article citing unnamed people familiar with the matter said some dealerships were being probed over retail pricing practices.
Goldman Sachs dipped 0.6 percent as it named Harvey Schwartz and David Solomon as presidents and co-chief operating officers following the departure of president Gary Cohn, who has joined the Trump administration.
Hertz Global Holding lost 0.9 percent after it announced that chief executive John Tague will retire in January, to be replaced by Kathryn Marinello. Marinello was praised by activist investor Carl Icahn, who is Hertz' largest shareholder.
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