Wall St ends down for a third day on Fed uncertainty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks lost ground for a third consecutive session on Wednesday on growing uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve may start to wind down its stimulus, which has been a driving force behind the rally in equities this year.

Based on the latest available data, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 48.07 points, or 0.31 percent, to end unofficially at 15,470.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 6.45 points, or 0.38 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,690.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 11.76 points, or 0.32 percent, to close unofficially at 3,654.01.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Jan Paschal)