The Dow fell as slides in shares of American Express and those of Wal-Mart, recently down 3.8 percent and 2.6 per cent respectively, outweighed advances in shares of Home Depot and those of Apple, recently up 1.4 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.
Shares of Wal-Mart Stores dropped after the retailer said it expects "relatively flat" earnings in its next fiscal year as it slows new-store openings to bolster its online business.
For the year ending January 31, 2018, Wal-Mart expects earnings per share to be "relatively flat" from the previous fiscal year's estimated adjusted EPS of between US$4.15 to US$4.35 a share, it said in a statement.
"The company will rely more on comp sales and e-commerce growth to drive the top line and plans to slow new-store openings, while increasing investments in e-commerce, technology, store remodels and other customer initiatives," Wal-Mart said in the statement.
At the moment, what is driving the US market is a repricing around expectations of near-term Fed action.
Meanwhile, shares of Twitter sank, trading 20.2 per cent lower as of 2.03pm in New York, as concern mounted no one wants to buy the social media company after it put itself up for sale last month.
Alphabet's Google does not plan to bid for Twitter, according to technology website Recode. Walt Disney won't make a bid either, Recode reported, while Apple was unlikely to be a suitor.
Meanwhile Salesforce.com might be interested.
"I'm not saying I'm buying it, but I'm not saying I'm not buying it," Salesforce Chief Executive Mark Benioff told the New York Times.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with a slide of 0.4 per cent. Germany's DAX Index fell 0.2 per cent, as did France's CAC 40 Index, while the UK's FTSE 100 Index declined 0.5 per cent.