Wall Street closed mixed Tuesday as investors refrained from making moves ahead of a Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision and statements about the general outlook of the economy.
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Apple shares soared 7.4 percent to $104.47 after the company sold more iPhones than expected in the third-quarter and gave an upbeat current-quarter forecast. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.55 percent from 1.56 percent.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins a two-day meeting today to decide whether the U.S. economy is strong enough to absorb an interest rate hike.
The slightly more hawkish comments signalled to the markets that perhaps a rate hike in September may still be on the table for the USA central bank.
Traders have priced in a 19.5 percent chance of a rate increase in September and a 42.8 percent chance in December, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Ben Jang, a portfolio manager with Vancouver-based Nicola Wealth Management, said the likelihood that the Fed will raise rates following this meeting is pretty non-existent.
The S&P 500 was flat, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.16%, and the Nasdaq added 0.16%. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced 28 trillion yen ($266 billion) in extra government spending to jumpstart growth, but details are uncertain.
Of the 157 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 69 percent have topped earnings estimates. In a typical quarter, 63 per cent of companies beat expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.3 percent to 5,558.40. (ADI) in a deal worth $14.8 billion (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/analog-devices-confirms-deal-to-buy-linear-technology-for-148-billion-2016-07-26). Linear’s stock was down 3.3 percent at $60.43.
Twitter TWTR.N plunged 12.3 percent after the microblogging service provider reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public in 2013.
On the downside, Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM) dropped 5% after the organic food retailer posted weaker than expected second quarter revenue and same-store sales.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.69-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.40-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
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US -listed shares of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDSb) lost almost 5% after the oil producer reported a more than 70% fall in quarterly profit, well below analyst estimates.
