US stocks finished little changed Tuesday as investors turned cautious following the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6.13 points, or 0.05%, to finish at 12,393.90. The S&P 500 advanced 0.46 points, or 0.03%, to close at 1,332.87. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.41 points, or 0.01%, to 2,789.19.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting showed that few participants indicated that economic conditions might warrant a move toward less-accommodative monetary policy this year.
The Institute for Supply Management said that its non-manufacturing index dropped to 57.3 in March from 59.7 in February. Economists expected the index to slip slightly to 59.5, compared with last month's reading of 59.7 .
Shares of Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) soared 8 cents, or 4.41%, to $1.78.
European stocks closed mostly lower. The UK FTSE fell 9.92 points, or 0.16% to 6,007.06. The German DAX lost less than 0.1% while French CAC decreased 0.03%.
Asian stocks finished lower. The Nikkei 225 slumped 103.34 points or 1.06% to 9,615.15.
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