NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were mixed early Wednesday ahead of a key Federal Reserve decision as investors digested solid economic data and mostly good earnings.

Major indices have closed at records the last three sessions, but were under pressure ahead of an expected Fed announcement later Wednesday to trim back stimulus bond purchases.

The Fed's accommodative stance, along with strong earnings, have helped propel stocks to records in recent weeks.

"There isn't much fear about the Fed taking away the punch bowl," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"What will be interesting to see is if the stock market keeps charging on the expected outcome or sees it as an opportunity to sell the news following a huge run that has been predicated in part on the belief that the Fed isn't going to raise its policy rate anytime soon."

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3 percent at 35,927.39.

The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent to 4,626.29, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 15,660.69.

US stocks pause ahead of Fed decision

Data from payroll service firm ADP said that private businesses hired 571,000 workers last month, a better-than-expected figure that comes ahead of Friday's important government jobs data for October.

Among individual companies reporting results, Lyft surged 9.2 percent while Activision Blizzard sank 15.3 percent.

Zillow also lost more than 15 percent as it announced it was winding down its home purchasing company after concluding the business was too volatile.

Deere & Company shed 2.8 percent after workers from the United Auto Workers voted down the latest contract offer, extending a strike that began three weeks ago.