U.S. stocks declined for a fourth straight session Tuesday, as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 57.66 points, or 0.33 percent, to 17,674.82. The S&P 500 lost 3.74 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,075.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 4.89 points, or 0.10 percent, to 4,843.55.
Investors kept a close eye on the U.S. central bank's conference that started on Tuesday for more clues on the timing of the next interest rate hike. However, most analysts predicted that the Fed won't make the rate decision at the meeting. Meanwhile, worries about a Brexit also weighed on the market.
Latest polls indicated a major surge toward the so-called Brexit campaign, after weeks of an almost 50-50 split in the remain and leave camps. A referendum will be held on Thursday, 23 June, to decide whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union.
On the economic front, the Commerce Department said that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food sales in May increased 0. 5 percent from the previous month to 455.6 billion U.S. dollars, beating the market's prediction. Prices for U.S. imports increased 1.4 percent in May, following a surge of 0.7 percent in April, while U.S. export prices jumped for 1.1 percent in May, after a 0.5-percent rise in the previous month, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday.
Overseas, European shares continued to tumble on Brexit concerns. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange dropped 1.43 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index slumped 2.01 percent. In Asia, China's stocks gained mildly on Tuesday as investors took a wait-and-see attitude ahead of a decision by the MSCI on whether it will add China's A share market to its Emerging Markets Index.
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