Stocks slide lower as investors seek safety after weak sales data

Tokyo stocks closed lower Wednesday reversing early gains as investors awaited the outcome of a U.S. central bank meeting later in the day.

The central bank is all but certain to raise interest rates after its meeting ends later in the day but the main focus will be on chair Janet Yellen's comments afterwards.

But industrial robot maker Fanuc rose 0.65 percent to 21,565 yen and Sony gained 0.56 percent to 4,060 yen, tracking rallies in USA technology firms. It was down a point to 2,439. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.67, or 3.6 percent, to $44.80 a barrel in NY. Wall Street was poised for a steady opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.1 percent. The Nasdaq isn't far from the record it set last week, but it was hit particularly hard by the steep sell-off in technology companies Friday and Monday.

The Commerce Department said people spent less money at petrol stations, department stores and electronics retailers last month. Analysts said Wall Street has a lot of respect for Clancy, who has been Biogen's CFO for 10 years. Video game seller GameStop gave up 43 cents, or 2 percent, to $21.55 and department store chain Kohl's dropped 76 cents, or 2 percent, to $37.28. Citizens Financial dropped 93 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $35.95 and Lincoln National lost $1.46, or 2.1 percent, to $67.09. That showed how little inflation there has been in the economy, a continued concern for Federal Reserve policymakers.

The index is expected to be confined to a narrow range ahead of the Fed's two-day policy meeting that ends on Wednesday, at which the USA central bank is expected to raise interest rates. That would be the third increase since December. That did not appear to change the Fed's thinking even though higher interest rates tend to slow down economic growth. That will send interest rates higher.

REACTION: Bond prices jumped and yields fell to their lowest level since November. Concerned about weak growth, investors bought bonds and high-yield stocks.

The dollar moved in a tight range against the yen in Asia ahead of the Fed announcement. That spurred selling of real estate developers' shares. Brookdale, which is not itself a real estate investment trust, jumped $1.12, or 8 percent, to $15.19. Ventas, which operates senior housing, ticked up 94 cents, or 1.4%, to $69.20. Wireless communication tower company Crown Castle International gained 89 cents to $102.05.

That rate is closely tied to interest rates on mortgages and other kinds of loans. Natural gas fell 3 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $2.93 per 1,000 cubic feet.

CURRENCY: The dollar rose to 110.19 yen from Tuesday's 110.04 yen. The euro edged up to $1.1220 from $1.1212.

BLOCK PARTY: Tax preparer H&R Block posted a bigger profit than analysts expected as well as slightly stronger sales. Its shares climbed $2.45, or 9.1 percent, to $29.44.

COMMODITIES: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 29 cents to $46.17 a barrel in NY. Brent crude, used to price global oils, shed 41 cents to $48.31 a barrel in London.

Gold climbed $9.90 to $1,278,50 an ounce and silver soared 42 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $17.20 an ounce.

OVERSEAS: Germany's DAX advanced 0.8%, the CAC-40 in France was up 0.3% and the British FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.

Markets in greater China were mixed, with the Hang Seng Index falling 0.91 percent in early trade.

S is up by 0.1% and Japan's Nikkei is down with 0.08%, the Wall Street has been more confident with its major indexes were closing at record peaks.

This article was originally published at 7 a.m.