NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street retreated Tuesday as investors, mindful of the Federal Reserve’s upcoming meeting on interest rates, decided to cash in some profits from the market’s extended rally.

The consolidation, which follows a similar move in overseas markets, comes a day ahead of the Fed meeting. Though central bankers are expected to leave rates unchanged, Wall Street could get further direction about whether a hoped-for rate cut is in the offing.

Fresh data released on Tuesday showed the economy continues to sputter. The Commerce Department reported wholesalers’ inventories grew at a slower rate in March, failing to meet projections. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors lowered its forecast for the housing market this year because of stricter lending standards and subprime woes.

Data is expected to wield more influence on the direction of stocks as the pace of earnings announcements slows. But investors will be watching after the bell for reports from Walt Disney Co., one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow, and Cisco Systems Inc.

“There’s this wait-and-see pullback with regard to what the Fed might do on Wednesday,” said Janna Sampson, a portfolio manager for Oakbrook Investments. “Given the run we’ve had, and a pretty strong start of the year, this might be a case of investors positioning their portfolios a little sooner than usual before the summer doldrums.”

Stocks regained some ground from session lows after midday, spurred by oil stocks as the price of crude rose above $62 per barrel. In midafternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 25.84, or 0.19 percent, to 13,287.13. The blue chip average had been up 24 of the last 27 sessions, and surpassed the 13,300 mark for the first time on Monday.

Broader stock indicators were also declined. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 3.73, or 0.25 percent, at 1,505.75, and the Nasdaq composite index shed 5.14, or 0.20 percent, to 2,565.81.

The retreat followed a moderate drop in global stocks. Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed lower by 0.07 percent. At the close, Britain’s FTSE 100 gave up 0.81 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 1.11 percent, and France’s CAC-40 declined 0.61 percent.

Fixed-income investors began to place optimistic bets ahead of the Fed meeting, sending bonds higher. The yield of the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.63 percent from 4.64 percent late Monday.

Meanwhile, the dollar was mixed against most major currencies, while gold prices were weaker.

Oil prices advanced amid fears of supply disruptions following the bombing of three major oil pipelines by the main militant group in southern Nigeria. A barrel of light, sweet crude rose 56 cents to $62.03 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

This pushed shares of major oil companies higher. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 29 cents to $81.12, not far from its 52-week high of $81.76. Chevron Corp. picked up 37 cents to $79.95, while ConocoPhillips added 8 cents to $70.42.

Though most analysts expect stocks will continue to advance, there are rising expectations on Wall Street that a correction will be needed to sustain the bull run. Before Tuesday’s breather, the S&P 500 had closed in on its all-time high of 1,527.46, reached on March 24, 2000 at the height of the dot-com boom; the Dow’s recent run has been its best showing since 1927.

“If we keep marching up without a break, we will set ourselves up for another sell off,” said Alan Brown, head of investment for Schroder Investment Management. “But, the fundamentals still look pretty encouraging to me provided of course that the U.S. slowdown does not turn into something much worse.”

Investors were cautious ahead of the Fed meeting for several reasons, including speculation that policymakers, in their economic assessment statement Wednesday, won’t give any clear hints about whether it will change its stance on rate hikes. This weighed on stocks as investors hedged their bets, and remained concerned about the economy as a whole.

Between June 2004 and June 2006, the Fed lifted rates 17 consecutive times in an effort to cool an overheated economy, and have left them unchanged since then.

On Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that wholesale inventories increased 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted $393.23 billion in March. The results fell short of Wall Street projects for a 0.4 percent gain.

The National Association of Realtors projected existing home sales will fall 2.9 percent this year to 6.29 million, compared with its previous forecast for a 2.2 percent decline. The industry is facing significant headwinds as speculative buyers have begun to pull back, leading to a downshift in the entire market, the group said.

In corporate news, Hewlett Packard Co. lifted its second-quarter forecast on strong results in its personal computer and server business. The stock rose 97 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $44.77.

Dow Jones & Co. fell 47 cents to $55.04 after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused two Hong Kong residents of unlawful trading when they bought $15 million worth of the publisher’s stock ahead of an announcement that News Corp. had put in a bid. News Corp. fell 35 cents to $23.50.

Warner Music Group Corp., which owns music labels Atlantic and Elektra, fell 17 cents to $17.13. The company posted a wider second-quarter loss due to restructuring costs, but surpassed Wall Street’s profit projections after excluding items.

There was also continued acquisition activity. AK Steel Holdings Corp. soared $2.66, or 8.3 percent, to $34.72 after a report the company was being eyed by ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel maker.

Reuters Group PLC fell 73 cents to $75.77 after the news and information company confirmed it was in discussions about a possible combination with rival Thomson Corp. There has been concern about the uncertainty about regulatory approval, and execution problems if the combination is approved. Shares of Thomson fell $1.60, or 3.7 percent, to $41.23.

Declining issues outpaced advancers by a 2 to 1 basis on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 967.9 million shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 4.54, or 0.55 percent, at 827.33.

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