U.S. stocks open lower after July 4 holiday as investors await Fed minutes

U.S. stocks opened lower Wednesday as trading resumes this week following the July 4 holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.16%
was down 0.5% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.09%
fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.15%
dropped 0.3%, according to FactSet data, at last check. Investors will get a look Wednesday afternoon at the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting, which are scheduled to be released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Fed-funds-futures traders are largely expecting the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate this month by a quarter point, after the central bank paused its rate hikes at its June policy meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, at last check.