U.S. stock indexes ended mostly lower on Wednesday, declining for the first time this week and edging below record highs set the day before. Investors found little new to trade on in the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

On Wednesday:

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 2.09 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 17,685.73.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.08 points, or 0.2 percent, to end at 2,048.72.

The Nasdaq composite shed 26.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,675.71.

For the week:

The Dow is up 50.99 points, or 0.3 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 8.90 points, or 0.4 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 12.83 points, or 0.3 percent

For the year:

The Dow is up 1,109.07 points, or 6.7 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 200.36 points, or 10.8 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 499.12 points, or 11.9 percent.