Stock market news today: US stocks edge lower in countdown to Fed

US stocks, heading for their third month of straight losses, slipped again in afternoon trading after initially reversing earlier declines. The moves come as investors weigh fresh consumer confidence data that fell for a third straight month, but still beat expectations ahead of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decision on Wednesday. The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) continued to hug the flatline while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) declined 0.1%, or less than 50 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell around 0.2%. Bonds rallied after the US Treasury cut its estimate of how much the government would need to…