U.S. markets lose traction

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. markets lost early gains Wednesday after credit rating services injected caution into markets in Europe.

Moody's Investors Service warned it may downgrade ratings on Spanish debt while Standard & Poor's Ratings Services shifted Belgium's rating outlook from stable to negative.

By close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 19.07 points, or 0.17 percent, to 11,457.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 0.51 percent, losing 6.36 points, to 1,235.23. The Nasdaq composite index shed 10.50, or 0.4 percent, to 2,617.22.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,030 stocks advanced and 1,968 declined on a volume of 3.9 billion shares traded.

Markets were buoyed by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which said Tuesday it would maintain its $600 billion bond purchasing program and keep lending rates at historic lows. But early gains did not hold.

The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 18/32 to yield 3.542 percent.

The euro fell to $1.3211 from Tuesday's $1.3381. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 84.24 yen from Tuesday's 83.73 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.07 percent, 6.99 points, to 10,309.78.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 index lost 0.15 percent, 9.03, to 5,882.18.