S&P 500, Nasdaq end sharply lower as U.S. stocks fall ahead of Fed decision

U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday as investors digested a profit warning from Walmart ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy decision on interest rate hikes aimed at curbing high inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.71%
fell around 0.7%, while the S&P 500
SPX,
-1.15%
slid 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-1.87%
dropped 1.9%, according to preliminary FactSet data. Retail giant Walmart Inc.
WMT,
-7.60%
said Monday after the market’s close that high food inflation was hurting its customers’ spending on general merchandise and it was lowering its profit forecast. Many investors are expecting the Fed to announce Wednesday that it’s lifting its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, a large rate hike aimed at combating soaring inflation.