US

STOCKS declined yesterday, after benchmark gauges climbed to records on Tuesday, as declines in technology and small-cap shares overshadowed a rally in retailers before the Federal Reserve releases minutes from its policy meeting.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 0.3 percent to 2 045.46 points at 11.43am in New York. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.1 percent to 17 671.44.

Microsoft and Salesforce.com dropped more than 1.1 percent as the Nasdaq 100 index slid 0.6 percent. But Lowe’s climbed 6.3 percent and Target leapt 7.4 percent amid better-than-estimated earnings. Staples added 8.5 percent as its fourth-quarter forecast beat estimates.

“The market’s had a huge, huge run in a virtually straight line up to here, and now we’re down a little bit,” Bruce Bittles at RW Baird said. “It’s hard to believe the market’s going to go up every week through year-end. I don’t expect to see any surprises coming out of the Fed.” – Bloomberg