Stocks Opened Lower on Federal Reserve Decision Day

U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve wraps up its March meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately dropped 84.39 points, or 0.47%, to 17,764.69. The S&P 500 was down 8.15 points, or 0.39%, to 2,066.13. The Nasdaq Composie lost 17.44 points, or 0.35%, to 4,920.00.

The program, called Plenti, will launch this spring and operate like drugstore-rewards programs, letting customers earn points by making purchases at the participating companies, which also include Rite Aid Corp (RAD.N) and Hulu

FedEx Corp. narrowed its full-year profit forecast as a strong holiday shipping season was offset by unfavorable currency exchange rates for the operator of the world’s largest cargo airline.

General Motors is to slash production in economically troubled Russia and pull the Opel brand completely in the face of shrinking sales. Mass-market GM brands have been among the biggest losers as Russia’s auto market shrinks, with sales of Chevrolet down 74 percent year on year in February and those of Opel plummeting 86 percent.

Oil fell to a six-year low and currencies of commodity producers weakened. Crude oil futures fell 2.6 percent to $42.34 a barrel in New York, touching the lowest level since March 2009.