United States stocks ended lower after wavering in a tight range, as a decline in oil prices weighed on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, a media report said. Although the bank is not expected change interest rates, it may signal a rate hike for its September or December meetings.
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“Earnings are the key this week, but there’s also the Fed, the Bank of Japan and the Democratic National Convention, so you have a lot of things that go right or wrong”, said John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial, which oversees about $479 billion in Boston.
Strong economic data, an improvement in quarterly earnings and low expectations of a rate hike have spurred Wall Street to record highs in the past two weeks.
“While investors do not seem to care that earnings have been lower, the U.S. equity market remains the tallest midget in the crowd”, Brady added.
The Dow is down 114.50 points, or 0.6 percent. In a typical quarter, 63% of companies beat expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Dow Jones industrial average futures pointed to a narrowly higher open, while the S&P and Nasdaq Composite looked set to open marginally lower.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.3 percent to 2,169.61 at 9:37 a.m.in NY, following a fourth week of gains for the gauge.
Verizon declined to comment on the reports.
The S&P 500 is up 129.66 points, or 6.3 percent. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) snagged a new record intraday high and ended the day in the black, along with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP), which was propelled higher by earnings wins from Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com, Inc. The Dow spent much of the day attempting to muscle its way to a win, but was ultimately unsuccessful, logging its fifth straight daily drop and snapping a four-week winning streak.
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Texas Instruments shares rose 6.6% after its current quarter forecast beat analysts’ estimates.
