Trepidation Ahead Of Fed Minutes May Weigh On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - Following the pullback seen in the previous session, stocks are likely to see some further downside in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the Dow futures down by 81 points.

The downward momentum for the markets partly reflects trepidation ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting this afternoon.

The minutes are likely to be closely analyzed for hints regarding whether the Fed will begin raising interest rates at its next meeting in September. However, it is worth noting that the minutes contain a slew of information that could be used by those on either side of the interest rate debate to support their argument.

Traders are also reacting to a report from the Labor Department showing that U.S. consumer prices rose by slightly less than expected in July.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index edged up by 0.1 percent in July after climbing by 0.3 percent in June. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.2 percent.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core consumer price index also ticked up by 0.1 percent in July following a 0.2 percent increase in June. Core prices were also expected to rise by 0.2 percent.