Stocks Ended Modestly Lower after Earnings and Fed

U.S. stocks fell modestly on Wednesday, extending losses that had Wall Street slammed the prior session, as investors soured on another round of underwhelming corporate results and the Federal Reserve said it would stick to its stimulus plan. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 25.19 points, or 0.19%, to 13,077.34. The S&P 500 index retreated 4.36 points, or 0.31%, to 1,408.75. The Nasdaq Composite lost 8.76 points, or 0.29%, to 2,981.70.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stuck to its plan to keep stimulating the U.S. economy until the job market improves and repeated its vow to keep rates near zero until mid-2015.

Zynga Inc.’s (ZNGA) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback of up to $200 million. In a separate statement, Zynga announced a deal with bwin.party to offer real-money gaming in the U.K. The deal will involve Zynga’s Poker and Casino titles, as well as a slots game based on Zynga’s popular “FarmVille” franchise.

The federal government filed a civil lawsuit against Bank of America Corp.(BAC), alleging the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets saddled taxpayers with losses by misrepresenting the quality of home loans it sold to mortgage-finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The action, filed Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, seeks at least $1 billion in damages.