US stocks slip as traders guess at timing of interest rate increase

Stocks are falling again in midday trading as traders try to guess when U.S. interest rates will rise.

The Federal Reserve will release a policy statement later Wednesday at the end of a two-day meeting. The Fed could raise rates as early as June.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 81 points, or 0.5 percent, to 17,766 as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell six points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,068. The Nasdaq composite lost seven points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,929.

Oracle rose 2 percent after reporting that its software and cloud businesses got stronger.

Oil dropped $1.18 to $42.28 a barrel. Crude is trading at a six-year low.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.02 percent.

This story was originally published March 18, 2015 at 11:11 AM with the headline "US stocks slip as traders guess at timing of interest rate increase."