Wednesday's early trade: Stocks little changed in wake of Fed statement

US stocks were little changed on Wednesday, rebounding after a brief move lower in choppy trade on the heels of the policy statement by the US Federal Reserve that cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point.

The Fed cut lowered its policy rate to a target range between 1.50% and 1.75%, but dropped a previous reference in its statement to "act as appropriate" to support the economic expansion, which could signal the Fed may hold off on future rate cuts.

"The market certainly was expecting the 25-basis point rate cut. That is what we got," said Michael Arone, Chief Investment Strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.

Hopes of a rate cut and recent optimism around the trade talks had helped lift the benchmark S&P 500 to record intraday highs in the previous two sessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12.73 points, or 0.05%, to 27,084.15, the S&P 500 lost 1.23 points, or 0.04%, to 3,035.66 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.71 points, or 0.04%, to 8,273.14.

The interest-rate sensitive banking sub-sector pared losses after the statement, but was still down 0.69%. Utilities, up 0.43%, was the best performing while the energy sector lagged, down 2.12%.

Investors also dealt with the latest round of corporate earnings. Shares of General Electric Co jumped 9.20% after the industrial conglomerate beat quarterly profit estimates and raised its cash forecast for the year.

Yum Brands Inc shed 7.04% and was among the top decliners on the benchmark index as the KFC owner missed quarterly profit expectations.