Stocks Opened Lower ahead of Fed Decision

U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday as investors awaited the latest monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 46.20 points, or 0.17%, to 27,064.60. The S&P 500 lost 9.70 points, or 0.32%, to 2,996.00. The Nasdaq Composite declined 27.26 points, or 0.33%, to 8,158.76.

Crude oil prices extended declines after President Donald Trump wrote in a Twitter post that he had “instructed the Secretary of Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!” West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery lost 49 cents, or 0.8%, to $58.85 a barrel. November Brent crude shed 31 cents, or 0.5%, to $64.24 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve is set to deliver its latest monetary policy decision Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET, with market participants still widely expecting that central bank officials will cut rates for a second time this year.

The pace of U.S. home construction jumped 12.3% last month to a 12-year high on a surge in apartment building. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million, the most since June 2007 and up from a revised 1.22 million.