U.S. stocks drift lower ahead of Fed statement

U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session Wednesday, as investors were eagerly awaiting the statement from the Federal Reserve scheduled to release this afternoon.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 86.80 points, or 0.49 percent, to 17,762.28. The S&P 500 lost 7.80 points, or 0. 38 percent, to 2,066.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 12.32 points, or 0.25 percent, to 4,925.12.

Investors were keeping a close eye on the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting started Tuesday, which was expected to give clear clues on the timing of an interest rate hike. Some analysts think that interest rates could be raised as early as June.

On the economic front, U.S. weekly mortgage applications, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 3.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, reported the Mortgage Bankers Association Wednesday.

In corporate news, shares of Alibaba ticked down 0.39 percent around midday, as the Chinese e-commerce giant's first lock-up arrangement expired Wednesday.

According to Alibaba Group, approximately 437 million ordinary shares subject to the 180-day lock-up period described in the company's IPO prospectus are available for sale to the public Wednesday.

Of those 437 million ordinary shares, roughly 100 million shares will nevertheless remain subject to Alibaba's employee trading restrictions until after the announcement in May 2015 of its earnings results for the quarter and fiscal year ending March 31, 2015.

There are different lock-up periods for different shareholders, and stocks held by Alibaba's largest shareholders will remain frozen until the company's IPO anniversary in September. Endite