New York ? Stocks fell sharply Wednesday as the Federal Reserve, shifting its stance on interest rates, signaled that an increase was coming. The Dow Jones industrials tumbled more than 140 points.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 141.55, or 1.3 percent, at 10,468.37, erasing nearly all its gains since the beginning of the year.

With a market fresh off of two months of major gains, Wall Street is primed for at least a pause, if not a pullback, said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke LLC.

“It’ll be at least a couple of weeks, though, to see if this will mark a selloff or not,” Sheldon said.

Time Warner posted a profit after a loss a year ago from write-downs on its America Online unit, but the company missed analyst estimates by 1 cent per share. Shares fell 85 cents to $17.96.

Sony’s earnings fell 26 percent from a year ago as the entertainment and technology giant restructures its global operations, but the company gave a strong outlook for its music and consumer technology divisions. Investors responded by sending the stock 35 cents lower to $39.95.