US stock markets have ended lower, continuing the euro and data-inspired drop seen the day before as markets gave a muted response to the latest news from the Federal Reserve.

The major indexes fell into the red amid lingering doubts about a bailout plan for Spain, weak US business confidence figures and the expectation of mediocre earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished trade down 0.38 per cent, or 48.59 points, to 12,604.53. The Nasdaq fell 0.49 per cent, or 14.35 points, to 2887.98. The S&P 500 stood at 1341.45, down 0.02 points, a fraction of a per cent.

Markets dipped after the publication of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting in June, which showed few surprises.

The minutes showed that several of the Federal Reserve’s top policy makers urged the central bank to look at new tools to bolster the financial system amid a weak recovery, but also showed the Fed split on how, when and if to provide more stimulus.

Oil firms were among the Dow winners, with Chevron up 1.2 per cent and ExxonMobil up 1.5 per cent.

The US bond market was mixed.

The 10-year Treasury yield was flat at 1.51 per cent, while the yield on the 30-year fell 0.005 points to just under 2.59 per cent.

Yields go up as prices go down.