United States stocks were mixed as Federal Reserve policymakers kicked off a two-day interest rate meeting and investors braced for quarterly scorecards from Apple and Twitter.
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Investors were also looking ahead to the Fed’s rate announcement later on Wednesday, although it is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
WestJet Airlines (TSX:WJA) saw a 40 per cent drop in its second quarter due to the energy downturn and a rocky start to its new United Kingdom route.
Traders have priced in a 14.7 percent chance of a rate hike in September and a 38.5 percent chance in December, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
A set of strong economic data, including Tuesday’s housing report, could strengthen the case for the Fed to raise rates earlier than the market anticipates.
Investors are now pinning their hopes on an improvement in corporate earnings to justify the market’s valuation.
Earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to fall 3.7 percent, compared with a 5-percent decline expected at the start of the earnings season, according to Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU – news) data. WFM, -1.33% are among those due to report after the market’s close. “I think we’re going to be in a wait-and-see phase today, ahead of the Fed’s decision”.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.31 points at 18,473.75, while the broader S&P 500 composite index gained 0.70 of a point to 2,169.18.
The S&P 500 was down 5.61 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 2,169.42.
The gauge retreated on Monday from a record, with energy producers sliding amid a decline in oil prices. Its shares gained 18 cents, or 1.93 per cent, to settle at $9.53. The stock was the top percentage gainer among S&P components. It fell four-tenths of a cent on Monday. (NASDAQ:YHOO) dipped 2.69 per cent after Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) announced it would buy most of the tech company’s Internet businesses for US$4.83 billion. Outerwall shares soared 11 percent after the news. The stock provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500. Asian markets were mixed – with the Nikkei up 1.7%, but Shanghai down 1.9% – as investors digested conflicting reports (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-rises-against-yen-amid-conflicting-reports-about-japan-stimulus-2016-07-27) about the Japanese government’s soon-to-be-released stimulus measures.
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The S&P 500 index showed 47 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 90 new highs and 16 new lows.
