Dow, S&P close flat

Equity markets closed mixed Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve released minutes of its June Open Market Committee meeting. The minutes showed divided sentiment on the pace of unwinding the Fed's $85 billion-per-month asset-purchasing program and on how to communicate the strategy of backing away from the program to the public. The Dow Jones industrial average shed 8.68 points or 0.06 percent to 15,291.66. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 16.50 points or 0.47 percent to 3,520.76 and the Standard & Poor's 500 added 0.30 points or 0.02 percent to 1,652.62. On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,620 stocks advanced and 1,425 declined on a volume of 3 billion shares traded. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.39 percent or 56.30 points to 14,416.60. In Britain, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.12 percent or 8.12 points to 6,504.96. The 10-year U.S. treasury note rose 2/32 to yield 2.632 percent. Gold added $16.30 to close at $1,262.20 per troy ounce. West Texas Intermediate crude oil added $2.08 cents in after-hours trading to reach $105.40 per barrel. The euro fell to $1.2979 against the dollar. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 99.80 yen. On the Chicago Board of Trade, December corn gained 3/4 cents to $5.22 1/2, November soybeans added 5 3/4 cents to $12.825 and September wheat added 3/4 cents to $6.78 1/4.