(Open): US stocks saw modest gains as the Federal Reserve began its latest two-day meeting and investors waited for some key earnings reports.
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USA stocks slipped, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index continuing a retreat from a four-month high, before central-bank meetings this week in the US and Japan and as investors awaited earnings reports to gauge corporate health.
Apple’s shares were down 7 percent at $97.09 after its first revenue decline in 13 years, while Twitter slumped 16 percent to $14.91 after its revenue missed expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 51.23 points on Wednesday, or 0.28 percent, to 18,041.55.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 3.45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,095.15.
The S&P500 was down 0.8% at 2,090, while the Nasdaq lost 0.9% to 4,846 as Apple shares dropped by 6% to $98.05. SPY was last seen down 0.3 point, or 0.2%, at $208.68.
While the S&P 500 Index (SPX) followed the Dow higher, dismal performances from tech stocks like Netflix, Inc.Against the dollar, the euro edged down about 0.1 percent to $1.1306, as investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday that orders for durable goods increased 0.8 percent last month, below the 1.8 percent rise expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The Dow is up 565.29 points, or 3.2 per cent.
Apple reported earnings of second-quarter earnings of US$1.90 per diluted share, a long way from consensus of US$2 a share.
POWER PLAY: Utility companies rose as bond prices rose, bringing their yields lower and making stocks like utilities more appealing.
Brent crude, the global contract, advanced $1.33 or 3% to $45.81 a barrel.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index, Wall Street’s preferred measure of market volatility, was little changed on Tuesday after rising more than 2% earlier in the day.
The Nasdaq’s information technology sector fell 1.4 percent, with Facebook (FB.O) and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) also lower.
“Solid execution, local price and product mix gains, and higher corn area led to a strong start to the year for our agricultural business”, DuPont chief executive Ed Breen said in a statement.
Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank, said investors are probably nervous ahead of Thursday’s report on first-quarter United States gross domestic product that could show very sluggish growth. The index has rallied 15 percent since February. Baker Hughes gained $1.90, or 4.3 percent, to $45.70. Consumer discretionary shares were little changed as Netflix Inc. retreated 2.4 percent to an nearly two-month low.
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The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1.5 per cent to its highest closing level since January 6.
