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Wall Street slips on Fed watch

United States markets close lower as investors await economic data, latest US Federal Reserve policy meeting.
By · 30 Jul 2013
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30 Jul 2013
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United States stocks closed modestly lower as investors looked ahead to a busy week of economic news, corporate earnings and a US Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 36.86 points, or 0.24%, to close at 15,521.97 points.

The broad-based S&P 500 closed down 6.32 points, or 0.37%, to 1,685.33 points.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 14.02 points, or 0.39%, to close at 3,599.14 points.

Analysts said investors are unlikely to place big bets ahead of this week's high-profile economic calendar, which includes a meeting of the Fed's policy-making committee and releases on second-quarter US economic growth and monthly jobs data.

"We have so much stuff later in the week," said Steven Rosen, a vice president at Societe Generale. "There was really not much happening in the market as a whole."

Although investors will be closely watching the outcome of the Fed's policy-setting committee meeting, few surprises are expected. Markets have generally taken the view that the central bank could begin tapering its stimulus spending later this year.

A report by the National Association of Realtors showed that pending US home sales for June declined 0.4%, which was below market expectations of a 0.1% rise. Pending home sales had hit a six-year high of 6.7% in May. Although the data was disappointing, analysts said it would not be enough to damage the perception that the US housing sector recovery is strengthening.

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