Prices closed mixed on Wall Street yesterday as US traders cautiously placed some last-minute bets before tomorrow's meeting of the Federal Reserve, which will decide whether interest rates could rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 59.85 at 10,853.47, having fallen as much as 167 points earlier in the session.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,997 down, 1,067 up and 485 unchanged. NYSE volume totalled 663.99 million shares, against 723.71 million in the previous session.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 2.97 to 440.16.

For much of the day, traders extended Friday's broad sell-off, in which the Dow fell 193.87 to 10,913.32, responding to the increase in the consumer price index that fed worries about rising inflation and prompted speculation that the Fed will consider an interest rate hike.