(updates prices to afternoon)

* Indexes off: Dow 0.02%, S&P 500 0.34%, Nasdaq 0.28%

* Chipmakers rebound after selloff in previous session

* May retail sales jump 0.9% vs 0.5% est.

* Fed keeps rates steady, signals hikes

By Sinéad Carew and Sruthi Shankar

June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes lost some ground on

Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve left interest rates

unchanged, as expected, but signaled a rate hike later this year

after the first meeting led by new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.

New quarterly projections showed nine U.S. central bank

officials now anticipate a rate hike by the end of 2026. An

updated policy statement removed language that had been used to

flag the likelihood of further reductions in borrowing costs in

2026.

Warsh appeared not to have submitted an interest-rate-path

projection as part of the central bank's quarterly forecasts, a

break from past practices by Fed chiefs.

Policymakers had been widely expected to hold interest rates

unchanged at the 3.50%-3.75% range as they wrestled with

inflation pressures from higher oil prices fueled by the Iran

war.

After the meeting, traders kept bets for a roughly 42% chance of

a 25-basis-point rate hike in December and increased

expectations for a 50-basis-point hike to 27% from around 15%,

according to CME Group's ( CME ) FedWatch tool.

Investors will keep a close watch on the new Fed chair's first

press conference for his views on inflation, unemployment and

the economic outlook.

"Maybe there is some concern in the market that we're not going

to get forward guidance in the future. Markets love information.

It's not a big selloff here," said Tim Ghriskey, senior

portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

"There is some concern about inflation so I'm not surprised to

see a number of Fed officials indicated they might see a rate

increase by the end of the year."

At 2:20 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.93

points, or 0.02%, to 51,991.74, the S&P 500 lost 25.20

points, or 0.34%, to 7,486.15 and the Nasdaq Composite

lost 75.55 points, or 0.28%, to 26,301.97.

Stocks had rallied sharply from Thursday through Monday as

oil prices fell after President Donald Trump announced a

preliminary U.S.-Iran peace deal. After indexes slipped on

Tuesday, they had been more muted ahead of the Fed meeting on

Wednesday. Also, oil prices edged back up on Wednesday after

Trump said the agreement with Iran was not final and that the

war could resume if he is unsatisfied.

Earlier, data showed U.S. retail sales increased more than

expected in May, with households purchasing more cars and other

vehicles even as they paid higher prices for gasoline.

In individual stocks, CME Group ( CME ) slipped 4.7% after the

exchange operator said its CEO, Terry Duffy, will step down on

March 1, and transition to the role of executive chairman.

Shares of Allbirds ( BIRD ) soared 42.6% after the footwear

maker-turned-AI company changed its name to Smartbird and

appointed former Amazon executive Nadia Carlsten as

CEO.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.25-to-1 ratio on

the NYSE, where there were 252 new highs and 90 new lows. On the

Nasdaq, 2,534 stocks rose and 2,196 fell as advancing issues

outnumbered decliners by a 1.15-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500

posted 27 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows while the Nasdaq

Composite recorded 76 new highs and 75 new lows.