The Dow Jones Industrial Average of blue chips fell 39.81 points (0.38 percent) to close at 10,497.88, ending a four-day winning streak.

The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index slipped 23.69 points (1.04 percent) to 2,264.56 while the broader S&P 500 index lost 7.71 points (0.69 percent) to 1,106.13.

Sentiment was soured by news that orders for big-ticket items in the U.S. suffered the biggest drop in almost a year in June, on weaker demand for airplanes and electronic goods.

New orders for "manufactured durable goods" - items such as planes, cars, refrigerators and computers - decreased by US$2 billion, or one percent, from the previous month, the Commerce Department said.

"The equity markets remain biased toward the downside... as an unexpected decline in durable goods orders, which stymied economic sentiment, is stalling the recent upward momentum in stocks," analysts at Charles Schwab & Co said in a client note.

That trend was underlined before the opening bell when U.S. defense and aerospace firm Boeing announced a sharp 21 percent drop in second quarter profits, amid falling revenue and fewer deliveries of aircraft.

The firm's second-quarter profit was US$787 million, or US$1.06 a share.

The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book published Wednesday also dragged the market down as it showed the "modest" U.S. economic recovery slowing in some parts of the country.

The report will be used at the next meeting of the central bank's interest rate setting body, the Federal Open Market Committee, on Aug. 10.

"Unfortunately, the afternoon release of the Fed's Beige Book struck a similarly troublesome note (as the falling durable goods orders)," said Elizabeth Harrow, analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Among losing stocks was Boeing, dropping 1.89 percent to US$67.32.

Oil giant ConocoPhillips was stable at US$54.44 after it reported better-than-expected earnings.

Bonds rose. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell to 3.001 percent from 3.047 percent on Tuesday while that on the 30-year bond slipped to 4.068 percent from 4.080 percent.