Stocks end mixed ahead of Wednesday's Fed decision
U.S. stocks ended mixed Tuesday as investors reacted to another batch of earnings reports and await Apple's closely watched profit results after the closing bell and the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates Wednesday.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which fell 27 points Monday, slipped 13, or 0.1%. A pair of Dow components issued earnings beats and upbeat guidance including Procter & Gamble (PG), a seller of everyday consumer goods like toilet paper, laundry detergent and batteries, and Dupont (DD), which specializes in agriculture and chemicals. DuPont shares jumped almost 2.4% but P&G shares went the other way, down 2.3%.
The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.
The big earnings event of the day occurs after the close of trading, when iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) reports. The gadget maker is expected to report its first-ever quarterly drop in iPhone sales as well as a 14% drop in earnings and revenues expected to fall more than 10% shy of the same quarter a year ago. Apple shares were trending lower, falling 64 cents, or 0.6%, to $104.44.
Wall Street is also bracing for the Fed's decision on rates Wednesday when the central bank's two-day meeting ends. While Wall Street does not expect the Fed to hike rates tomorrow, investors will be looking for any clues as to whether the Fed might consider another hike at its June meeting.
In recent public appearances, Fed chair Janet Yellen has delivered a "dovish" message to investors, which is codeword for market-friendly language that hints at the Fed being in no rush to hike rates at a time when U.S. economic growth came in below 1% in the first three months of the year, still-low inflation and continued fallout from the early-year turbulence overseas.
Heading into Tuesday's trading sessions, the Dow and S&P 500 are still sporting gains for 2016 and are hovering near all-time highs, with both indexes about 2% lower than their record highs set in May 2015. The Nasdaq, however, is riding a three-session losing streak and is still more than 6% away from its all-time peak.