By David Hodari and Amrith Ramkumar 
   -- Fed rate announcement, guidance in focus 
 
   -- Bond yields climb 
 
   -- Stocks quiet in Europe and Asia 

U.S. stocks were little changed Wednesday, as worries about regulation in the technology sector and the path for higher interest rates led to cautious trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 4 points, or less than 0.1%, to 24731 shortly after the opening bell. The S&P 500 shed less than 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1%.

Major indexes rose slightly Tuesday following sharp declines to start the week, with some investors worried that regulatory steps to address how Facebook personal data is used by third parties could affect other large technology firms. Facebook was down again Wednesday, bringing its losses for the week to more than 10%.

Investors were also focused on the path for higher interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision later in the session and the latest news about international trade. Unease over a pickup in inflation leading to a quicker-than-anticipated pace of rate increases contributed to last month's stock-market correction. Worries that protectionist trade policies could spread following U.S. tariffs and crimp global economic growth have also made some money managers anxious.

"People are waiting to see some sort of clarity and waiting to see, 'Is this kind of just a little bit of a technical selloff, or is this the start of something more substantial?'" said Rob Bernstone, a managing director in equity trading at Credit Suisse Group. "This pullback gives people a little bit of an excuse to take profits and re-evaluate."

Some investors expect a favorable earnings and economic backdrop to buoy stocks moving forward once the paths for interest rates and trade policies are clarified.

The Fed is widely expected to raise rates for the sixth time since late 2015 later Wednesday, and analysts will be watching for clues about how many more increases to expect the rest of the year. The central bank previously projected three increases for 2018. Some investors worry that higher borrowing costs will slow corporate activity and push up Treasury yields, making stocks less attractive.

Analysts will also be tracking new Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's comments during his press conference for further hints about his long-term outlook for rates.

"The more interesting part [of the announcement] will be the new economic projections and the press conference by the new chairman. I think the market is anticipating a somewhat hawkish view and either a raise in the pace of hikes or a higher long-term Fed funds target rate," said Alvin Tan, a foreign-exchange strategist at Société Générale.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed to 2.901%, according to Tradeweb, from 2.881% Tuesday. Bond yields rise as prices fall. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, was recently down 0.4%.

Observers were also keeping an eye on trade policies with the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports set to go into effect on Friday. The White House is expected to announce a new raft of punitive measures aimed at China, including levies worth at least $30 billion.

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 countries failed to reach a fresh agreement on trade at a meeting this week in Buenos Aires, in a sign that the U.S. and other countries remain split on the matter.

A Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey released Tuesday showed that 30% of global fund managers see a trade war as the greatest risk to markets.

"It will be difficult to speculate about the impact of tariffs on inflation until we see the details and what Europe does in return. [However] having lower trade barriers is good from an economic perspective -- there is no argument about that," said David Zahn, head of European fixed income at Franklin Templeton Investments.

Elsewhere, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.4%, with the index's banking sector among the worst performers. Among individual stocks, home-improvement firm Kingfisher dropped 0% after reporting a sharp fall in full-year profit.

Trading was quiet in Asia, partly because of a Japanese public holiday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.4%, while China's Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.3%.

Kenan Machado contributed to this article.

Write to David Hodari at David.Hodari@dowjones.com and Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2018 10:19 ET (14:19 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.