U.S. Stocks Modestly Down Ahead Of Fed

U.S. stocks fell Monday, retreating from multi-year highs, with expectations high for the Federal Open Market Committee to signal another round of bond-buying in the days ahead.

“The only surprise the FOMC could deliver would be to not announce further bond-buying,” said Art Hogan, market strategist at Lazard Capital Markets.

Analysts say the market has largely priced in a third round of easing by the FOMC, which concludes its policy-setting meeting Thursday. Stocks hit multi-year highs after Friday’s Labor Department report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by just 96,000 in August versus forecasts for a 125,000 increase.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA  fell 25.54 points, or 0.2%, to 13,281.10.

The S&P 500 index SPX  fell 2.53 points, or 0.2%, to 1,435.39.

The Nasdaq Composite COMP  declined 8.56 points, or 0.3%, to 3,127.86.

Decliners outpaced advancers by a 4-3 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, where 74 million shares traded as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern. Composite volume topped 314 million.

Marketwatch