Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq close sharply lower as stocks slide after Fed minutes

Major U.S. stock benchmarks ended sharply lower Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index suffering the steepest decline, after the Federal Reserve released minutes of its December meeting that showed officials eyeing potentially faster and earlier rate hikes amid high inflation. The Nasdaq COMP, -3.34% dropped about 3.3%, the S&P 500 SPX, -1.94% fell about 1.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.07% lost about 1.1%, according to preliminary data from FactSet. Fed officials also discussed shrinking the central bank’s balance sheet, another form of tightening monetary policy. Losses for the interest-rate-sensitive Nasdaq Composite came as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, 1.706% climbed to about 1.7% Wednesday, the highest since April based on 3 p.m. levels, according to Dow Jones Market Data.