DJIA down 56.33 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 18 Sep - US shares turned lower at midday in cautious trade as investors braced for what is expected to be the first interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in more than four years.

The market is undecided whether the Fed will cut rates by just a quarter point in its decision later today or if it will opt to take a more aggressive approach and cut by a half point.

As inflation heads steadily towards the central bank's long-term target of 2%, hopes have been growing of late the Fed could decide to grasp the nettle and cut significantly in an effort to boost an economy showing signs of flagging and support a labor market that has been cooling.

According to CME's FedWatch tool, Fed funds futures trade is discounting a 65% chance of a half-point cut today which is up from the odds of 50-50 seen late last week.

At 1522 GMT, the Dow Jones was losing 56.33 points, or 0.14%, at 411,549.85 points.

The S&P 500 was 4.41 points, or 0.08%, lower at 5,630.17 points.

The Nasdaq was down 12.16 points, or 0.07%, at 17,615.90 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 18-09-24 17:35:39 (0564) 5 NNNN