US stocks lower as Fed meeting kicks off

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stock exchanges opened lower Tuesday as the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting kicked off.

The Dow Jones was down 372 points, or 0.96%, to 38,495 at 10.04 a.m. EDT. The S&P 500 fell nearly 26 points, or 0.49%, to 5,334.

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, declined 24 points, or 0.14%, to 17,168.

The Fed is widely expected to keep its federal funds rate unchanged between the 5.25% - 5.5% target range Wednesday, but investors will focus on Chair Jerome Powell's comments in the post-meeting news conference.

Consumer inflation data, which is closely watched by the Fed, will be announced Wednesday before the opening of the market.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, rose 3.2% to 13.18. The 10-year US Treasury yield lost 0.68% to 4.441%.

The dollar index increased 0.27% to 105.43, while the euro shed 0.34% to $1.0726 against the greenback.

Precious metals were mixed, with gold adding 0.26% to $2,317 but silver decreasing 1.65% to $29.25.

Oil prices were down around 0.5%, with global benchmark Brent crude at $81.28 and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $77.36.