By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks fell for a second straight day on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve gave no hints of new stimulus measures to offset the effects of the worsening European debt crisis.

Though the Fed did leave the door open to further easing next year, as it has done after recent meetings, it gave no indication it was any more inclined to provide new economic stimulus.

The Fed left monetary policy on hold and said financial market turbulence posed threats to economic growth. It also characterized the U.S. economy as expanding moderately despite an apparent slowing in global growth, though it added that unemployment remains elevated and housing activity depressed.

The Fed “gave the economy a very slight upgrade, but it sort of took the wind out of domestic equities, probably because some were hoping that they would hint at another (quantitative easing)-like program,” said Robert Phipps, a director at Per Stirling Capital Management in Austin, Texas.

Wall Street was higher for much of the volatile session, but turned negative after the Fed announcement. The losses accelerated going into the close and the S&P 500 briefly fell under its 50-day moving average. A close under that could signal more losses to come. For more visit: Yahoo finance

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