NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks dipped early Wednesday ahead of a Federal Reserve decision expected to shed light on the prospects for interest rate cuts in the coming months.

While the Fed is widely expected to maintain its current interest rate level, markets are fixated on whether the central bank will still forecast three interest rate cuts in 2024.

Unfavorable guidance on rate cuts or an unexpectedly hawkish tone at Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference could lead to “an outsized, negative reaction,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

S&P 500, Nasdaq fall in lead-up to Fed meeting; chip stocks down

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 39,087.43.

The broad-based S&P 500 also declined 0.1 percent to 5,175.11, along with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which stood at 16,147.06.

Among individual companies, Chipotle Mexican Grill jumped 6.3 percent after announcing a stock split that grants investors 50 shares for each current holding in what the chain called “one of the biggest stock splits in New York Stock Exchange history.”