US stocks retreat from record highs

   •  Investors turn cautious amid uncertainty over the tax bill.
   •  Pull-back could still be categorized as a brief pause.

Major US equity indices opened flat on Wednesday as investors continue to monitor lawmakers' efforts to past the long-awaited tax bill. 

The lackluster trading action comes after all the three major indices edged up to another intraday record high on Tuesday and thus, would still be seen as a brief pause. 

Equities struggled to sustain their upward momentum on Tuesday after the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified sources that Senate Republican leaders are considering a one-year delay in the implementation of a major corporate tax cut. 

In the absence of any top-tier US economic releases on Wednesday, investors would track on another dose of earnings reports, but the focus would remain on how tax reform is progressing. 

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped around 30-points to 23526, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost over 3-points to 2587. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell nearly 8-points to 6,759.