U.S. Stocks End Mostly Lower; Dow Loses 128 Points

U.S. stocks ended Tuesday's choppy session broadly lower, with the Dow industrials posting a triple-digit loss. Investors wrestled with jitters as the Federal Open Market Committee two-day meeting got under way, with many expecting the central bank to pave the way to an interest-rate hike as early as this summer by removing the word "patient" from its statement. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite defied the general trend and closed modestly higher, up 7.93 points, or 0.2%, at 4,937.43, with the help of Apple Inc.'s 1.7% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 128.41 points, or 0.7%, to 17,849.01, with 25 of its 30 components closing with losses. The S&P 500 closed 6.99 points or 0.3%, lower at 2,074.20.