The S&P 500 pulled back on Wednesday due to an increasingly tepid outlook put forth by the retail sector. The latest report to weigh on the market comes from Target which missed estimates on the top and bottom lines, the bottom line by a very wide margin. The report highlights a growing problem in the retail sector in the form of bloating inventories that spells bad news for earnings and good news for consumers. With inventories at unusually high levels, retailers may be forced to follow in Target's footsteps and enter a new age of deep discounting to move merchandise.

The decline in stocks was curbed, however, by the FOMC minutes. The minutes indicate the Fed is ready to hike rates until inflation comes down substantially from its current high levels but gave no indication of the pace or timing of hikes. The market is pricing in a 50 basis point hike at the next meeting but there are still several inflation reports due out before then.