Investors Get Fed Up

Stocks posted modest losses Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said it remains more inclined to raise interest rates than to lower them.

The Fed’s statement was largely expected, however, so stocks ended the day well off their lows. In leaving interest rates unchanged, the Fed acknowledged that economic reports have been mixed as of late, but the central bankers said they expect moderate growth to continue. The statement dashed hopes that the Fed will be cutting interest rates to stimulate growth anytime soon.

Weak results from Best Buy also weighed on stocks, raising fears of weaker than expected holiday sales.

Texas Instruments gained 1.6% after lowering its top and bottom line guidance for the fourth quarter, a move that was largely expected.

HP slipped after issuing 2007 guidance slightly below estimates, but the company’s 2008 earnings guidance was better than Wall Street analysts were looking for.

Mamma.com shares nearly doubled after the company launched a video search engine.

Sabre Holdings gained on a private equity buyout.

Salesforce.com climbed after raising guidance, while Comverse edged higher on its results.

Celestica , Chartered Semi and Endwave fell on their earnings news.

Micron lost 2% on a JP Morgan downgrade.

The Nasdaq fell 11 to 2431, the S&P 500 slipped 1 to 1411, and the Dow lost 12 to 12,315. Volume rose to 2.74 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.02 billion on the Nasdaq. Decliners led 18-14 on the NYSE, and 19-11 on the Nasdaq. Downside volume was 63% on the NYSE, and 69% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 275-23 on the NYSE, and 113-47 on the Nasdaq.