US equities open mildly lower, struggling for a firm direction

Major US equity indices witnessed a muted opening on Wednesday and were seen struggling for a firm direction as investors remain cautious ahead of remarks from the Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen at in Jackson Hole Symposium for guidance over the central bank's plans to rate interest rates. 

During the opening trade on Wednesday, Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 26 points to 18,521, while the broader index S&P 500 retreated 2 points to 2,185. Tech heavy, Nasdaq Composite index was nearly unchanged at 5,261.

On the economic data front existing home sales declined 3.2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million, which was lower than consensus forecast estimating a pull-back to 5.52 million units after posting a more-than 8-year high in June.

Through the course of this week, trading activity has been lackluster, with investors preferring to remain on sidelines until a clear direction about the path of the Fed's monetary policy stance. Hence, caution is warranted as increasing expectations from the central bank’s retreat at Jackson Hole might lead to sudden spurt in volatility across global financial markets, in case of some unexpected outcome.

In other markets, Asian shares closed mixed while European stocks were choppy and wavered between tepid gains and minor losses.