Stocks Fall as Traders Prepare for Fed Moves Stocks lost ground on Monday, with each of the major indexes falling for a fourth straight session, as investors were hesitant to make new bets ahead of an expected shift in Federal Reserve policy that could lead to higher interest rates. The Nasdaq was positive for most of the session, spurred by gains in technology shares, such as Apple and Google, before selling pressure in the last hour of trading turned the index negative. At the close of trading, Apple shares had gained 1.1 percent to $507.74 while Google advanced 1 percent to $865.65. The Nasdaq composite ended the day down 0.4 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index closed down 0.6 percent and the Dow was down 0.5 percent. The Fed's policy of buying large amounts of bonds in an attempt to keep interest rates low has been credited with fueling the stock market's solid gains in 2013. But many analysts expect that to change at the Fed's September policy meeting. With little expected this week in the way of economic indicators, market participants are focused on the minutes from the July Fed meeting, due to be released on Wednesday, for possible insights into policy makers" thinking. "The market is just sitting on its hands right now until Wednesday with the Fed," said Terry Morris, senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania. The market has made a big run year-to-date and now investors have to consider the possibility of rising interest rates that could be for real, because the economy is growing for real, as opposed to all the stimulus and there is the possibility of the stimulus tapering. Growing concerns about a pullback in the program contributed to the Dow's largest weekly drop in more than a year last week. In the bond market, the United States benchmark 10-year note yield rose to a two-year high. Trading volume has been light in recent sessions because of uncertainty over the Fed and few catalysts for investors, who have kept to the sidelines in most sessions. European shares have outperformed over the last two months as the euro zone has pulled out of a recession, but on Monday indexes struggled. London's FTSE ended the day down 0.5 percent, the DAX in Frankfurt fell 0.3 percent and CAC 40 in Paris closed 1 percent lower. Rising debt yields in major economies make it harder for developing nations to finance growing current account deficits, and so emerging markets have taken a spill. The Indian rupee slid as far as 62.73 to the dollar on Monday, emphatically breaching the previous low of 62.03. India's central bank has tried to restrict how much Indian residents and companies can send offshore, but that only raised fears of outright capital controls that would further undermine the confidence of foreign investors. Other Asian markets were mixed. The Nikkei in Japan ended the day up 0.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.24 percent lower. With little expected this week in the way of economic indicators, market participants are focused on the minutes of the latest Fed meeting, expected on Wednesday. A federal bribery investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase hired the children of prominent Chinese officials to help it win business is the latest in a series of legal and regulatory headaches for Jamie Dimon, the bank's chief executive. JPMorgan shares closed down 2.7 percent.