U.S. stocks fall ahead of Fed announcement

U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session on Wednesday, as investors eyed the U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 29.45 points, or 0.16 percent, to 18,007.65. The S&P 500 lost 7.27 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,104.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 18.46 points, or 0.36 percent, to 5,135.12.

The Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its two-day meeting on Tuesday. Investors kept a close eye on the central bank's announcement due later Wednesday for more clues on the timing of the next rate hike.

Analysts, however, widely believe that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged in this meeting.

"Today's Fed announcement is being watched not for what the Fed might do-a decision to raise rates today would be shocking-but for what the Fed might say about future policy decisions," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

On the economic front, U.S. private sector employment increased by 147,000 jobs from September to October, according to the October ADP National Employment Report Wednesday.

The ADP figure is watched closely as a pre-indicator for the non-farm payrolls report due Friday. Enditem