The Dow Jones Industrials gave up gains and faded 28.34 points by the close to 29,210.85.
The S&P 500 declined 11.81 points to 3,577.03.
The NASDAQ Composite dropped 9.09 points to 10,417.10.
Traders took a comment in the central bank’s September meeting minutes as a sign that the Fed may back off rate hikes in the event of more market turbulence, which initially lifted stocks.
Stocks whiplashed between gains and losses earlier in the morning when the September producer price index, a gauge of final-demand wholesale prices, came in higher than expected.
The print was up 0.4% in September, more than the consensus estimate of a 0.2% increase, according to Dow Jones.
The PPI number is one of the inflation gauges investors are watching alongside the Federal Reserve. If inflation stays high, the central bank is more likely to continue its aggressive path of interest rate hikes to bring it back into check.
That means rates will continue to rise and may stay high for longer than markets expect, weighing on stocks.
Treasury prices climbed, lowering yields to 3.90% from Tuesday’s 3.94%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices sank $2.27 to $87.08 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dumped $4.30 to $1,681.70 U.S. an ounce.