(Updates prices to midafternoon New York time)

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Equities volatile after Fed signals slower easing

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Oil rises on sixth day of Israel-Iran tension

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Trump says "Nobody knows what I am going to do"

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U.S. Treasury yields fall, then rise

By Isla Binnie

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street stock trading

was volatile after the Federal Reserve held interest rates

steady on Wednesday, while oil prices edged higher again as

investors analyzed the chances that the Israel-Iran air war

might lead to supply disruption or any intervention from

Washington.

The U.S. central bank forecast a slightly slower pace of cutting

interest rates, predicting that President Donald Trump's tariffs

would stoke inflation.

"The Fed is looking at slower economic growth and the vote

was unanimous and the fact that rates remain unchanged is no

surprise," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at

Spartan Capital.

"They do state that the economy is slowed, but still on

solid footing."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was last up 0.08%,

the S&P 500 0.09% higher and the Nasdaq Composite

advanced 0.19%, having traded briefly higher than those levels

after the Fed statement.

Geopolitics remained in focus as Iranian Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected Trump's demand for unconditional

surrender, and Trump said his patience had run out but did not

indicate his next step.

Trump declined to say whether he had made any decision on

whether to join Israel's bombing campaign against archenemy

Iran. "Nobody knows what I'm going to do," he said.

U.S. crude oil futures settled 0.4% higher at $75.14

per barrel on the sixth day of the Middle East conflict. Brent

rose to $76.74 per barrel, up 0.43% on the day.

U.S. TREASURY YIELDS FALL, THEN RISE

U.S. Treasury yields fell after the Fed statement before

turning slightly higher on the day.

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year notes

rose 0.6 basis point to 4.397%, from 4.391% late on Tuesday.

Treasury yields had slid earlier in the week as investors

calculated that geopolitical risks abroad were greater than the

chances the U.S. debt pile would become unmanageable.

Economic data from earlier in the week had made for a

challenging backdrop for the Fed decision.

U.S. retail sales fell by a larger-than-expected 0.9% in May,

data showed on Tuesday, the biggest drop in four months, while

labor market indicators showed weakness.

The two-year yield, which is more sensitive to

changes in expectations for Fed interest rates, fell 0.7 basis

point to 3.944%, from 3.95% late on Tuesday.