Stocks fell this morning ahead of today’s Federal Reserve policy-makers’ meeting and a day after Wall Street took a break from a string of advances, the Associated Press reported.

Investors, who widely expect the Federal Open Market Committee to keep the federal funds rate unchanged as it has done since last summer, are more concerned about the central bank’s economic assessment statement. Wall Street hopes the committee will indicate it is inclined to cut the federal funds rate by the end of the year to make access to capital cheaper, which would boost stocks.

On days the Fed makes its announcements, investors often refrain from making any big moves until the committee releases its statement at 1:15 p.m. CST.

“I think their idea going through the whole year will basically be: Let the market do the work,” said Bill Buechler, a money manager at Barclay Partners Asset Management. “There will be times when people are looking for a rate cut and times for a rate hike, but in the end I think they’re going through the entire year of doing nothing and staying status quo.”