Major Averages Posting Modest Losses In Mid-Day Trading

(RTTNews) - After initially showing a lack of direction, stocks have moved modestly lower over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. Selling pressure has remained relatively subdued, however, limiting the downside for the markets.

The modest weakness on Wall Street comes as traders express some trepidation ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement.

The release of the Fed's post-meeting statement at 2 pm ET is likely to contribute to significant volatility in the markets as traders digest the decision.

After trending higher in recent sessions, health insurance stocks have shown a notable move back to the downside on the day. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index is down by 1.7 percent, pulling back further off Monday's record closing high.

Humana (HUM) and Cigna (CI) are turning in two of the health insurance sector's worst performances, falling by 2.8 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.

Gold stocks have also come under pressure, moving lower along with the price of the precious metal. With gold for December delivery sliding $11.20 to $1,298.20 an ounce, the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index is down by 1.4 percent.

Commercial real estate, housing, and defense stocks are also seeing weakness on the day, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

The major averages are currently posting moderate losses, near their worst levels of the day. The Dow is down 42.26 points or 0.3 percent at 15,487.47, the Nasdaq is down 6.60 points or 0.2 percent at 3,739.10 and the S&P 500 is down 3.41 points or 0.2 percent at 1,701.35.