Stocks in the US were volatile as commodity shares fell on speculation that the Federal Reserve may leave benchmark interest rates untouched.
Dennis Cajigas, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a retail brokerage firm in Chicago, said: "People are still trying to figure out what the intentions of Bernanke are, moving forward. Was the increase in the discount rate simply technical rebalancing or normalization? Or is it going to be something that’s indicative of monetary policy down the road?
Dow Jones shed 18 at 10,383. The S&P 500 index gave up 1 at 1,108. The Nasdaq Composite lost 2 at 2,242.