Fed Minutes Clock Stocks

Updated from 4:08 p.m. EDT

Wall Street was lower for the entire session and ended to the downside Wednesday after the Federal Reserve indicated that policymakers are still weighing interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 89.23 points, or 0.71%, at 12,484.62, and the S&P 500 was off 9.52 points, or 0.66%, at 1438.87. The Nasdaq declined 18.30 points, or 0.74%, to 2459.31.

About 2.74 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, and volume on the Nasdaq reached 1.96 billion shares. Losers outpaced winners 2 to 1.

"Certainly, the concern about slower growth and higher inflation hurt us today," said Jay Suskind, head of institutional equity trading with Ryan Beck & Co. "The Fed minutes reinforced the feeling, and there's even more trepidation in front of more earnings reports."

Markets retreated following the 2 p.m. EDT release of the Federal Open Market Committee minutes from its two-day March meeting. At that gathering, policymakers left the fed funds target rate -- the rate banks use to charge each other interest for overnight loans - unchanged at 5.25% for the sixth consecutive meeting.

In the statement accompanying the rate decision, the Fed said the committee's predominant policy concern remains the risk that inflation will fail to moderate as expected.

However, the FOMC offered a more neutral statement on its future rate moves, saying it will watch incoming data for "policy adjustments," as opposed to its prior language of policy "firming." That sent markets surging at the time in hopes that the monetary body may cut interest rates.

The minutes indicated that members of the FOMC judged that "the combination of generally weaker-than-expected economic indicators and uncomfortably high readings on inflation suggested increased downside risks to economic growth and greater uncertainty that the expected gradual decline in core inflation would materialize."

But the members also noted that "further policy firming might prove necessary to foster lower inflation, but in light of the increased uncertainty about the outlook for both growth and inflation, the committee also agreed that the statement should no longer cite only the possibility of further firming."

To view Brittany Umar's video take on today's market, click here.