Stocks around the globe turned lower yesterday as investors sold equities ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting a day after two Fed officials said US short-term interest rates could rise as soon as next month.

The Fed left benchmark short-term US rates unchanged at its last meeting in July but said near-term risks to the economy had diminished, leaving the door open for a possible rate hike this year.

New York Fed President William Dudley and Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart both said on Tuesday that the US central bank could raise rates at its September policy meeting.

Analysts said traders are positioning for the minutes for hints on when the Fed would next raise rates, but also noted the move was related to technical positioning after the market’s recent highs.

Equities prices have been on a run recently, with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all hitting record highs this week and the pan-European STOXX 600 index reaching a seven-week high. Meanwhile the Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.57 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 18,506.45, the S&P 500 lost 5.18 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,172.97 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.26 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 5,210.86.

The STOXX 600 was 0.8 per cent lower. MSCI’s all-world index, a gauge of global equities, fell 0.35 per cent.