US stocks edged lower on Wednesday, following a string of four sessions of gains and before the release of the Federal Reserve's statement on the economy and its ultra-loose money policy. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 21.33 points or 0.14 percent, to 15,659.02, the S&P 500 lost 3.92 points or 0.22 percent, to 1,768.03 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 10.971 points or 0.28 percent, to 3,941.367.
In the latest batch of corporate earnings, shares of General Motors Co rose 3 percent to $37.14 after the No 1 US automaker reported stronger-than-expected quarterly profit due to strength in its core North American market and a smaller-than-anticipated loss in Europe. Shares of Yelp Inc dropped 5.6 percent to $64.99 a day after the business-search service firm reported a wider third-quarter loss. Western Union shares slumped 12.3 percent to $16.88 after the world's largest money-transfer company reported a 20 percent drop in third-quarter profit, hurt by lower revenue from its consumer business and higher expenses.