Wall Street closed lower after a volatile session ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting

© Archyde.com. A specialist trader works on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Archyde.com.

NEW YORK (Archyde.com) – Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, dragged down by losses in interest rate-sensitive technology shares, as the market awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s board meeting and as geopolitical tensions escalated over Ukraine.

In a repetition of what happened in Monday’s session, US stocks fluctuated between sharp losses and modest gains, before the three major indices closed lower, but far from their lowest levels for the session.

According to preliminary data, the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed 54.05 points, or 1.23 percent, to 4,356.08 points, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 311.35 points, or 2.26 percent, to close at 13,543.78 points.

The industrial index fell 54.31 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 34,310.19 points.

(Prepared by Wagdy Al-Alfi for the Arabic Bulletin)

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