MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Lower As FOMC Opens Door To Rate Hike

By Anora Mahmudova and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

U.S. economy grew at a 0.2% annualized pace in first quarter

U.S. stocks were trading lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve in a statement following its two-day policy meeting left open the chance of an interest-rate hike as early as June.

The central bank said it expects the U.S. economy to rebound and attributed a slowdown in the first quarter to transitory factors, in a statement released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/text-of-fed-statement-on-interest-rates-2015-04-29) Wednesday.

Stocks ticked lower immediately after the statement was released before retracing their steps somewhat, but the market is still broadly lower.

Read: Fed expects economy to recover as it keeps rate options open (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-expects-economy-to-recover-as-it-keeps-rate-options-open-2015-04-29)

The S&P 500 (SPX) were down 3 points, or 0.2%, to 2,112.39. Health care, consumer discretionary, and consumer staples companies were leading losers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) dropped 30 points, or 0.2%, to 18,073.67. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) declined about 17 points, or 0.4%, to 5,037.53.

Earlier, government data showed that the U.S. economy grew at a meager 0.2% annualized pace (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gdp-barely-grows-in-first-quarter-2015-04-29)in the first quarter, a period marked by severe weather, a major port dispute and a soaring dollar that curbed American exports.

Expectations for a June rate-hike have been dampened after a string of disappointing economic data. Read: Fed not ready to concede it won't hike this summer (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-not-ready-to-concede-it-wont-hike-this-summer-2015-04-27)

Kristina Hooper, U.S. investment strategist at Allianz Global Investors, said investors should not be worried about whether the rate hike will start in June or September.

"The Fed may be in a hurry to start the process of raising rates, but they are really not in a hurry to get them to normal levels in a hurry," Hooper said.

"The GDP number is not going to be a surprise to the FOMC members, as the Atlanta Fed's real-time growth indicator was very close to this reading. We will watch closely how they view it - whether it is transitory or has staying power," Hopper added.

A disappointing GDP number added more pressure on the dollar (DXY), which was hitting its lowest level against the euro in more than a month on Wednesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-hits-3-week-low-against-euro-ahead-of-gdp-fed-statement-2015-04-29).

One bright spot in the economy was March pending home sales, which showed an increase for the third straight month (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/marchs-gauge-of-pending-home-sales-highest-since-mid-2013-2015-04-29), hitting the highest level since 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Earnings: Shares of flooring company Lumber Liquidators(LL) tumbled 20% after it posted a loss in the first quarter and announced that it was facing criminal charges (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lumber-liquidators-says-doj-is-seeking-criminal-charges-against-the-company-2015-04-29).

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.(HLT) shares jumped 2.5% after it reported a 25% rise in first-quarter earnings per share. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hilton-posts-22-rise-in-first-quarter-profit-2015-04-29)

MasterCard (MA) shares rose 1.2% after the credit-card company posted profit that topped estimates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mastercard-profit-tops-estimates-2015-04-29-84853737).

Movers & shakers: Shares of Twitter Inc.(TWTR) lost 5.4%, after slumping 18% on Tuesday following the early release of quarterly results that showed revenue growth (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-revenue-disappoints-shares-tumble-2015-04-28-16485335) fell short of expectations. GoPro Inc.(GPRO) surged 11%. The maker of wearable video cameras said late Tuesday that its first-quarter profit jumped 52% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gopros-profit-up-sharply-on-rising-popularity-2015-04-28).

For more stock moves look here at Movers and Shakers (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/time-warner-mastercard-fiat-chrysler-lumber-liquidators-earnings-in-focus-2015-04-28). (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gopros-profit-up-sharply-on-rising-popularity-2015-04-28)

Other markets: European stock markets seesawed between small gains and losses (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) as investors continued to monitor the progress in Greece's bailout talks. Asia closed mostly lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), with Hong Kong shares down 0.2%. Metals and energy (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) futures were lower across the board.

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