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U.S. stocks open lower ahead of Fed statement

Xinhua, March 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday ahead of a highly anticipated statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve, as investors expected the central bank to give a clear clue on how soon it plans to raise interest rates.

Wall Street was eagerly awaiting the statement, with many expecting the Fed to remove the word "patient" from its statement, paving the way to a rate hike. Some analysts think that interest rates could be raised as early as June.

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

The U.S. dollar is expected to be strengthened against most major currencies as central banks around the world ease monetary policy while the Fed is on the track to tighten monetary policy.

On the economic front, weekly mortgage applications decreased 3.9 percent, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

In corporate news, employees and investors are able to sell 337 million Alibaba shares starting Wednesday, after the stock's first "lock-up" arrangement expired.

There are different lock-up periods for different shareholders, and stock held by its largest shareholders will be frozen until the company's IPO anniversary in September. Shares ticked up 0.06 percent in the early trading.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 84.36 points, or 0.47 percent, to 17,764.72. The S&P 500 lost 6.38 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,067.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 14.84 points, or 0.30 percent, to 4,922.59. Endi