Amidst anticipation of the release of the Fed’s meeting minutes, US stocks initially declined

US stocks fell at the beginning of trading on Tuesday, under pressure from the results of retail companies’ operations, which indicated weak expectations, and with anticipation of the release of the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Reserve Board.

At the beginning of the session, the Dow Jones index fell by 0.20%, or about 65 points, to 35,085 points.

While the S&P 500 index fell by 0.25% to 4,537 points, and the Nasdaq index fell by 0.35% to 14,232 points.

Investors are awaiting the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting, later today, searching for signals about the course of monetary policy in the foreseeable future.

The shares of electronics retailer Best Buy fell by 4.60% to $65.06, and the shares of home products company Lowe’s fell by 2.65% to $199.07, after the two companies expected weak business results for the entire year.

Trading is expected to be relatively quiet this week, given the Thanksgiving holiday during which markets are closed on Thursday, followed by an early close on Friday.