US stocks weaker during opening hour as Fed decision looms

Major US equity indices on Wednesday witnessed a weaker opening in wake of a surprise fall in iPhone sales reported by Apple, the world's most valuable company by market value. 

Late on Tuesday, Apple reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings report and raise its dividend. But investors seems to have shrugged off upbeat earnings report and focused more on sales report and guidance, which fell short of expectations.

During opening hour of trade, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index was particularly pressured by Apple and underperformed the broader indices, slipping over 20-points to 6,073. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 25-points to 20925, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost nearly 5-points to 2,387.

Meanwhile, investors also seemed reluctant to initiate fresh positions / carry large bets ahead of the closely watch FOMC monetary policy decision, due to be announced later during the NY session. While the central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates on hold, the accompanying policy statement would be scrutinized for clues for a possible rate-hike move in June.

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On the economic data front, the ADP report showed US private sector jobs grew by 177K in April, slight above consensus expectations. Market reaction to the report, however, was muted as investors look forward to Friday's official jobs report (NFP) for confirmation of the underlying strength in the US labor market.