North American stock markets ended slightly lower Wednesday, as investors chose to stay on sidelines ahead of Thursday’s U.S. Federal Reserve announcement on interest rates.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 11.70 points, or 0.12%, to close at 10,029.33

Volume was a relatively light at 175 million shares.

Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were lower, with the energy sector off 1.01%. The materials sector was the strongest on the day, gaining 1.21%.

Light sweet crude for August delivery dropped 94¢ to settle at US$57.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the U.S. Energy Department said inventories of crude oil increased by 1.1 million barrels to 328.5 million barrels, or 8% above last year’s levels.

Calgary-based PetroKazakhstan Inc. plunged $4.90, or 12.39%, to $33.95 after Kazakhstan’s energy minister said the country might exercise its priority right to buy the oil and gas company that operates in the former Soviet republic. On Monday, the stock spiked up more than 17% after the company announced it was looking for possible buyers or partners.

Gold for August delivery climbed 90¢ to end at $438.60 U.S. an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Bema Gold Corp gained 15¢, or 5.34%, to close $2.96, while Barrick Gold Corp advanced $1.10, or 4.45%, to $25.80.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 5.88, or 0.34%, to close 1,715.25

The Canadian dollar was up 0.20 of a cent at US81.40¢.

On Wall Street, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average closed down 31.15, or 0.30%, to 10,374.48. The tech heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 1.00, or 0.05%, to 2,068.89, while the broad based S&P 500 shed 1.72, or 0.14%, to 1,199.85.

Though investors widely expected the Fed would increase its funds rate a quarter point tomorrow, worries remained over the central bank’s future direction on the key rate.

These concerns overshadowed the good news in the form of lower energy prices and a report from the U.S. commerce department indicating national GDP in the first quarter had grown a solid 3.8%, above estimations.