Stocks Ended Down after Fed Statement

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday , after the Federal Reserve said its outlook for the economy was for weaker growth. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 61.59 points, or 0.39 percent, to 15,618.76. The S&P 500 lost 8.64 points, or 0.49 percent, to 1,763.31. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 21.72 points, or 0.55 percent, to 3,930.62.

The Federal Reserve decided Wednesday to hold monetary policy steady, saying that conditions remained too weak to pull back from its bond-buying program. By a vote of 9 to 1, the Fed decided to maintain the pace of its $85 billion-per-month asset purchase plan.

Facebook Inc. (FB) on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit of $425 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with a loss of $59 million, or 2 cents a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $2.02 billion from $1.26 billion.

Twitter Inc was sued for $124 million on Wednesday by two companies claiming the social media darling fraudulently had them organize a private sale of its shares to stoke investor interest for an initial public offering then canceled it.