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* Indexes: Dow -0.52%, S&P 500 -0.62%, Nasdaq -0.91%
(Updates with afternoon trading)
By Noel Randewich
Sept 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street sank on Wednesday as Federal
Reserve policymakers gave mixed signals about their next move
after cutting interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point
in a widely expected move.
With continued economic growth and strong hiring "the most
likely outcomes," the Fed nevertheless cited "uncertainties"
about the outlook and pledged to "act as appropriate" to sustain
the expansion. New projections showed policymakers at the median expected
rates to stay within the new range through 2020, bad news for
investors hoping for additional cuts to help blunt global
economic fallout from the U.S.-China trade war.
"The main concern (for stock investors) is there might not
be another cut, and that's why you had a little bit of a
sell-off," said Alan Lancz, President of Alan B. Lancz and
Associates in Toledo, Ohio. "But it's almost like selling on
good news. They left the door open for more cuts. It's a really
divided Fed right now."
Expectations of lower rates have supported Wall Street's
rally this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX up 19% year
to date and less than 2% below its record high close in July.
At 3:04 pm EDT (1904 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI was down 0.52% at 26,970.61 points, while the S&P 500
.SPX lost 0.62% to 2,986.93.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.91% to 8,111.67.
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were in the red, with the
S&P utilities index .SPLRCU up 0.3% and alone among gainers.
The S&P industrial index .SPLRCI fell 1%, leading decliners.
The interest-rate sensitive S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK
rose 0.5%.
The central bank also widened the gap between the interest
it pays banks on excess reserves and the top of its policy rate
range, a step taken to smooth out problems in money markets that
prompted a market intervention by the New York Fed this week.
FedEx FDX.N shares tumbled 13.7% and were on course for
their sharpest one-day percentage drop since the financial
crisis after the company blamed U.S.-China trade tensions and a
split with Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O for its dismal full-year
profit forecast.
Roku ROKU.O slumped 14.3% after Comcast CMCSA.O said it
will offer its own streaming media set top box for free to its
U.S. internet-only customers. Beyond Meat dropped 5.2% after Restaurant Brands
International Inc's QSR.TO Tim Hortons cut the faux meat
maker's burgers and sandwiches from its menu in most Canadian
provinces, months after a nationwide roll-out at the breakfast
chain. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.98-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.19-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 40 new highs and 31 new lows.