U.S. stocks traded lower on Wednesday as weak stock markets in Asia and Europe outweighed encouraging retail sales from the United States.

The main stock indices opened nearly flat after the Dow Jones Industrial Average refreshed record highs and the Standard & Poor' s 500-stock Index snapped a seven-session winning streak on Tuesday.

Wall Street was dampened by a general slip in Asian and European stocks on Wednesday as concerns over China's inflation pressure increased and corporate earnings from Europe were downbeat.

However, the market sentiment was underpinned by strong retail sales from the United States. The U.S. Commerce Department announced Wednesday that retail sales in February increased 1.1 percent from the previous month, the largest rise in five months, beating market expectation.

Meanwhile, U.S. business inventories were up 1.0 percent in January, the biggest since May 2011, suggesting that demand will pick up, according to data also released by the Commerce Department Wednesday.

Besides, U.S. import prices rose 1.1 percent in February, driven by higher fuel prices, which followed an increase of 0.6 percent in the previous month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Export prices advanced 0.8 percent in February following a 0.3 percent increase in January.

In corporate news, shares of Silver Spring Networks soared in the first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company operates a hardware and software network designed to help utility companies.

In midday trading, the blue-chip Dow dipped 14.04 points, or 0. 10 percent, to 14,436.02. The broader S&P 500 lost 1.19 points, or 0.08 percent, to 1,551.29. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed 5.01 points, or 0.15 percent, to 3,237.31. Endi

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