Wall Street inches lower as focus shifts to Fed's taper decision

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 114.93 points, or 0.32%, at 35,937.70

US stocks indexes edged lower on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's widely expected move to signal the withdrawal of its pandemic-era support, while Activision Blizzard slid on a gloomy outlook and a leadership change.

Five of the 11 major S&P sectors fell in early trading, with energy and industrials declining the most. Consumer discretionary shares outperformed. The banking sub-index was down 0.5%. The U.S. central bank will likely announce the tapering of its $120 billion-a-month asset purchase program in its policy statement due at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).

"The taper is largely priced