Stocks fell Wednesday as investors weighed the meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve's July meeting, as well as more earnings reports from major retailers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 180 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell roughly 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively.

Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -0.76% or -33.53 points to 4,404.33

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.52% or -180.65 points to 34,765.74

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -1.15% or -156.42 points to 13,474.63

In the spotlight, central bankers said in July's meeting minutes that additional interest rate hikes may be needed to stabilize prices.

"With inflation still well above the Committee's longer-run goal and the labor market remaining tight, most participants continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy," the meeting minutes stated.

The federal funds rates is current between 5.25% to 5.5%, its highest level in more than 22 years.

"In discussing the policy outlook, participants continued to judge that it was critical that the stance of monetary policy be sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to the Committee's 2 percent objective over time," the minutes added.

On the earnings front, Target (TGT  ) reported disappointing quarterly sales and cut both its full-year sales and profit expectations as consumer habits shift. The retailer now expects comparable sales to decline by about mid single digits for the full year and earnings per share to range between $7 to $8.

CEO Brian Cornell said Target's sales and store traffic had improved in July, but the company remains cautious looking ahead as raising interest rates, the return of student loan payments and inflationary pressures will continue to impact consumer spending.

"As we look at the consumer landscape today, we recognize the consumer is still challenged by the levels of inflation that they're seeing in food and beverage and household essentials," Cornell said on an earnings call Wednesday. "So that's absorbing a much bigger portion of their budget."

In economic news, U.S. housing starts rose 3.9% month-over-month to 1.45 million in July, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau on Wednesday, topping Wall Street estimates. Meanwhile, building permits rose 0.1% from the prior month to 1.44 million last month, marking a 13% year-over-year decline.

Looking ahead, market participants will be tuning in to Walmart's (WMT  ) earnings report due out Thursday morning.