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NEW YORK, March 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday, as oil prices dropped and investors became cautious ahead of the policy decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 44.11 points, or 0.21 percent, to 20,837.37. The S&P 500 lost 8.02 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,365.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 18.97 points, or 0.32 percent, to 5,856.82.
The Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting later Tuesday and is widely expected to raise interest rates.
Market expectations for a March rate hike were around 93 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Meanwhile, oil prices continued to decrease on Tuesday after rising U.S. rig count triggered market concern over global oil glut.
Energy stocks fell on Tuesday, with Exxon Mobile dropping 0.53 percent and Chevron decreasing 1.82 percent. Energy sector was the worst performing S&P 500 sector.
On the economic front, the Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.3 percent in February, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Labor Department said on Tuesday.
Final demand prices rose 0.6 percent in January and 0.2 percent in December 2016.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, increased 8.37 percent to end at 12.30 on Tuesday.
