About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen to 25,296.92, down 0.4 percent from Tuesday's record close.
The broad-based S&P 500 also 0.4 percent to 2,740.97, as did the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index which was down to 7,132.74.
All three indices finished at records on Tuesday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hitting all-time highs for the sixth straight day.
Analysts cited reports suggesting China could curtail its US Treasury purchases as a catalyst for Wednesday's spike in yields on US debt.
And with the Federal Reserve expected to raise the benchmark interest rate three times this year as the economy strengthens, higher rates are a worry for stock markets because they can draw funds out of equities and into bonds, and because higher lending prices can crimp economic activity.
But some analysts have been warning that stocks were unlikely to continue to rise steadily, particularly during earnings season for US companies.
The pullback due to higher rates is "an important development that bears close watching, yet let's not forget either that the stock market is overdue for a pullback of some kind after launching out of the gate in 2018," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.
US airline shares rose after American Airlines and United Continental reported better-than-expected financial performance during the key holiday season.