US stocks close lower as investors exercise caution ahead of Fed meeting

US stocks closed down on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s last interest rate decision of the year. 

The S&P 500 lost 0.4 per cent as it suffered broad declines among all sectors except for consumer cyclicals. The biggest decliners were financials, industrials and utilities.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3 per cent. Four of the so-called Magnificent Seven big technology stocks declined, with Nvidia shares down 1.2 per cent. Tesla, on the other hand, added 3.6 per cent, hitting a fresh record high.  

The Fed is expected to cut interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday.