NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks tumbled early Wednesday, extending a weak stretch ahead of Federal Reserve meeting minutes as inflation worries buffet the market.

The minutes will be scrutinized for any differences between the internal conversation and the Fed's dovish stance on monetary policy in public utterances.

Recent volatility in markets suggest investors believe interest rate hikes will come more quickly than the Fed has implied.

Analysts pointed to a steep drop in bitcoin prices as another source of market volatility after China said cryptocurrencies would not be allowed in transactions and warned investors against speculative trading in them.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.3 percent at 33,630.09.

The broad-based S&P 500 also shed 1.3 percent to 4,073.12, along with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which was at 13,128.75.

Major indices have declined the last two sessions, with concerns about excessive valuations adding to the inflation worries.

Among individual companies, Target jumped 3.4 percent after the big-box retailer after reporting better-than-expected profits on a 23 percent jump in revenues. Comparable store sales surged 18 percent.