REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Traders listen to an announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York December 18, 2013.
The Dow is down 73 points.
The S&P 500 is down 8.4 points.
The Nasdaq is down 19.3 points.
Gold fell to $1,332 from $1,340 ahead of the report.
The 10-year yield was at 2.71%.
The big news is that the Fed will no longer use the 6.5% unemployment rate threshold to guide monetary policy. This was part of the "Evans Rule."
"With the unemployment rate nearing 6-1/2 percent, the Committee has updated its forward guidance," they said. "The change in the Committee's guidance does not indicate any change in the Committee's policy intentions as set forth in its recent statements."
As expected, the Fed announced further tapering of its asset purchase program (aka quantitative easing). "Beginning in April, the Committee will add to its holdings of agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $25 billion per month rather than $30 billion per month, and will add to its holdings of longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $30 billion per month rather than $35 billion per month."