Wall Street declines as eyes shift to Fed's meeting

US stock indices declined on Tuesday as markets await the Federal Reserve's policy meeting and interest rate decisions.

Fed members will convene today and will carry on their meetings until tomorrow, followed by rate decisions.

The Fed is widely expected to hold interest rates unchanged this week, with traders putting up a 99% percent chance of that according to the Fed Watch tool.

However, investors will analyse the accompanying press release closely, in addition to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press statements to gauge the likely path ahead for policies this year.

Investors also await the ongoing negotiations between automotive companies and labor unions, as strikes threaten to hurt production. 

On trading, Dow Jones fell 0.8% as of 17:11 GMT, or 280 points to 34,345, as S&P 500 shed 0.7%, or 32 points to 4420, while NASDAQ lost 0.9%, or 120 points to 13,590.