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U.S. stocks open lower ahead of Fed meeting

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday after a rally in the previous session and ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting.

The Federal Open Market Committee kicks off a two-day meeting on Tuesday and is expected to release its statement on Wednesday afternoon.

Investors were eagerly awaiting the Fed statement due on Wednesday, when the central bank is expected to give a hint on the timing of an interest rate hike.

Wall Street also eyed currency markets Tuesday. The U.S. dollar continued to fell in the early trading, while the euro was up 0.59 percent against the dollar from the previous session.

On economic front, housing starts fell a monthly 17.0 percent in February, following no change in January, weighing the three indices in the early Tuesday.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 95.24 points, or 0.53 percent, to 17,882.18. The S&P 500 lost 7.12 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,074.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 7.01 points, or 0.14 percent, to 4,922.50.

U.S. stocks surged on Monday, as investors focused on weakness in the U.S. dollar ahead of key Fed meeting.

Wall Street offered a favorable reaction to the greenback's decline. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.72 percent at 99.610 in the late trading Monday. Endi