REFILE-US STOCKS-S&P 500 ends down after late reversal despite Fed's low-rate stance

(Removes extra word in second paragraph)
* Fed keeps rates steady
* Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P 500 down 0.5%, Nasdaq down 1.3%

By Caroline Valetkevitch
Sept 16 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended lower on Wednesday,
reversing gains late in the day as losses in technology shares
outweighed a Federal Reserve statement that stoked optimism it
would keep U.S. interest rates near zero for a prolonged period.
The index initially extended gains and the Dow briefly rose
more than 1% after the Fed kept rates near zero and promised in
its policy statement to keep them near there until inflation is
on track to "moderately exceed" the U.S. central bank's 2%
target "for some time."
New economic projections showed most policymakers see
interest rates on hold through at least 2023. But the market reversed direction heading into the close,
with technology shares leading the way down on the S&P 500. The
tech sector .SPLRCT , which had been recovering from a sharp
sell-off, fell 1.6% on the day, the biggest drag on the
benchmark index.
The statement and comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were
"even more dovish than the market expected," said Quincy Krosby,
chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New
Jersey. "It telegraphed to the market that the Fed intends to
remain accommodative."
Late losses likely followed declines in technology shares,
she said. "What you're seeing is some profit-taking in the tech
sector. That's where the selling is."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 36.78 points,
or 0.13%, to 28,032.38, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 15.71 points, or
0.46%, to 3,385.49 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
139.86 points, or 1.25%, to 11,050.47.
The central bank's two-day meeting was its first under a
newly adopted framework that promises to shoot for inflation
above 2% to make up for periods where it runs below that target.
On the plus side, FedEx Corp FDX.N shares rose 5.8% after
the package deliverer reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly
profit, helped by price hikes and lower fuel costs. The Dow Jones transportation average .DJT , often seen as a
barometer of economic health, rose 0.7%.
Spotify Technology SA SPOT.N fell 1.3% after Apple Inc
announced a bundled plan for all its services that lowered the
cost of Apple Music subscriptions. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.68-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.46-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 72 new highs and 16 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.80 billion shares, compared
with the 9.41 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.

(Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and David Gregorio)