U.S. stocks dipped on Wednesday morning as investors readied for Wednesday’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve decision.
The Dow Jones Industrials moved backwards 92.58 points to 35,451.60,
The S&P 500 index lost 5.48 points to 4,628.61.
The NASDAQ faded 48.47 points at 15,189.17.
Energy stocks struggled on Wednesday morning, with Occidental Petroleum falling more than 4%. Eli Lilly rose more than 8% each to lead the S&P 500 after the pharmaceutical company said it expected earnings to rise next year. Boeing was one of the worst performers in the Dow, falling about 2.2%.
The Fed will conclude its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday and the public will hear from central bank Chairman Jerome Powell at a 2:30 p.m. ET news conference.
The Fed is grappling with the highest inflation level in 39 years and the central bank is widely expected to announce an acceleration of the tapering of its bond-buying program, which was put in place during the pandemic to prop up the economy.
One survey predicts the Fed will double the pace of the taper to $30 billion at its December meeting, which would end the $120 billion in monthly asset purchases by about March. The central bank will then hike rates three times in each of the next two years, starting in June 2022, the survey respondents predict.
Retail sales for November came in worse than expected, rising 0.3% month-over-month. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for a 0.8% month.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys fell a bit, raising yields to 1.45% from Tuesday’s 1.44%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dropped $1.04 to $69.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices doffed $4.30 to $1,768.00 U.S. an ounce.