Wall Street mixed amid focus on Federal Reserve meeting

Perth Now

16 hours ago

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have touched fresh record highs as investors assess a spate of earnings and turn their focus to the US Federal Reserve's much anticipated policy meeting.
In early trading on Tuesday, the Dow fell 0.08 per cent, to 44,803.16, the S&P 500 gained 7.45 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 6,397.42, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 40.19 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 21,218.78.
The blue-chip index was currently about 200 points below its record peak.
Key Dow components UnitedHealth and Boeing reported mixed quarterly results on the day.
Health insurer UnitedHealth fell 4.2 per cent after a disappointing profit forecast while Boeing lost 2.7 per cent despite reporting a smaller second-quarter loss.
UnitedHealth's stock has lost nearly half its value from the beginning of 2025.
On the day, the healthcare index lagged other sectors and was down 1.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, United Parcel Service became the latest victim of US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs as the stock tumbled 8.0 per cent after the company reported a lower-than-expected second-quarter profit.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were largely aided this week by a United States-European Union trade deal that halved tariffs to 15 per cent and boosted expectations of more agreements ahead of Trump's August 1 deadline.
Trump has also floated a potential "world tariff" of 15 per cent to 20 per cent for non-negotiating countries.
Key negotiations between the US and China entered their second day in Stockholm as the two leading economies aim to iron out their trade conflict and possibly produce a 90-day extension to the tariff truce brokered in May.
Meanwhile, India was preparing for higher US tariffs - potentially as high as 25 per cent - on some exports as it opts to hold the line on new trade concessions ahead of the August 1 deadline, according to two Indian government sources.
The International Monetary Fund was looking at the details of the trade agreements the United States has struck in recent days to assess their economic effect.
Earnings from tech heavyweights Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple are scheduled later this week, which could test Wall Street's record run.
Spotify slumped 10 per cent after the company forecast third-quarter profit below estimates.
Meanwhile, consumer confidence in July increased more than expected to 97.2.
US job openings fell to 7.437 million in June, JOLTS data indicated.
However, recent data has shown resilience in the labour market despite initial signs of inflation from tariffs.
"It looks like companies are tightening up their hiring. The proportion that it dropped wasn't large but it's not in the right direction," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.
The US central bank is set to begin its two-day policy meeting later in the day.
While the Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged on Wednesday, traders will closely analyse policy makers' remarks to gauge the timing of future moves.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets are pricing in about a 63.6 per cent chance of a rate cut in September.
Among other earnings-related moves, Cadence Design rose 10 per cent after the chip design software provider raised its annual sales and profit forecast.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.5-to-1 ratio on the NYSE while declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.17-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and nine new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 53 new highs and 34 new lows.