US stocks drop ahead of Fed minutes

New York - Wall Street stocks opened lower on Wednesday as the market took a cautious approach ahead of the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes.

Fed speakers in recent days have signalled that a June interest rate increase remains a possibility, something the market had previously seen as having almost no chance.

Goldman Sachs downgraded stocks to neutral for the next 12 months on valuation and growth worries, further denting sentiment.

"Until we see sustained earnings growth, equities do not look attractive, especially on a risk-adjusted basis," Goldman said in the note.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% to 17 452.39.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4% to 2 040.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.2% at 4 708.33.