US stock market opens lower before Fed decision

NEW YORK (AA) - The stock market opened lower Wednesday with the decline in oil prices, and before the Federal Reserve's announcement on its interest rate decision.

The Dow Jones fell 45 points to 17,991 and the S&P 500 decreased four points to 2,107. The Nasdaq declined seven points to 5,146.

Oil prices fell more than 1 percent after global investment bank Goldman Sachs said Tuesday in its report that the price of crude oil could fall as low as $40 a barrel if OPEC's plan to limit its oil production quota fails after the cartel's meeting at the end of this month.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $45.89 a barrel with a 1.7 percent fall when the U.S. stock market opened. The International benchmark Brent crude was $47.40 per barrel -- a 1.4 percent loss.

The Fed is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the conclusion of its November meeting later Wednesday.

The Central Bank, however, could signal a rate hike for December, which may cause a sell-off in the stock market, analysts warn investors.