Major US stock indexes finished trading in negative territory, affected by the collapse of the conglomerate sector and the financial sector.

The focus of investors' attention is also data on the housing market and the results of the Fed meeting. The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes in the US rose more than expected in August after two direct monthly decreases, but the main trend still indicates a weakening of the housing market amid rising mortgage rates and higher housing prices . The report showed that sales of new buildings recovered 3.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted level of 629,000 units. The pace of sales in July was revised to 608,000 units from 627,000 units. Sales in June were also much weaker than previously reported. Economists predicted that sales of new homes rose to 630,000 units.

As for the Fed meeting, as expected, the Central Bank raised interest rates by another 0.25% and signaled its intention to continue raising rates next year. This rate increase was the third this year and the eighth since the Fed began tightening policies in late 2015. In addition, for the first time in a decade, the rate exceeded the level of inflation according to the Fed's preferred index of prices for personal consumption expenditure, which in July rose by 2%.

Most of the components of DOW finished trading in the red (22 of 30). Outsider were shares of American Express Company (AXP, -1.69%). The leader of growth was the shares of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, + 1.81%).

Almost all S & P sectors recorded a decline. The largest drop was shown by the sector of conglomerates (-1.1%). The services sector grew most (+ 0.3%).

At closing:

Dow 26,385.28 -106.93 -0.40%

S & P 500 2,905.97 -9.59 -0.33%

Nasdaq 100 7,990.37 -17.10 -0.21%

U.S. stock-index futures edged higher on Wednesday, as bank stocks gained ahead of the announcement of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary-policy decision.

Global Stocks:

Wall Street. Stocks before the bell

(company / ticker / price / change ($/%) / volume)

Downgrades before the market open

DowDuPont (DWDP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Nomura; target $76

Upgrades before the market open

IBM (IBM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS; target raised to $180 from $160

NIKE (NKE) reported Q1 FY 2019 earnings of $0.67 per share (versus $0.57 in Q1 FY 2018), beating analysts' consensus estimate of $0.63.

The company's quarterly revenues amounted to $9.948 bln (+9.7% y/y), generally in-line with analysts' consensus estimate of $9.918 bln.

NKE fell to $82.70 (-2.46%) in pre-market trading.