US close: Stocks mostly lower ahead of Fed's rate decision
US stocks finished Monday’s session mostly lower as investors were cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates mid-week.
The S&P 500 fell 3.97 points to 2,071.18 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 23.65 points to 17,623.05, while the Nasdaq rose 2.84 points to 5,034.70.
The Fed is widely expected to hold off on raising rates on Wednesday amid low inflation and risks stemming from a slowdown in emerging markets.
“I personally think that the Federal Reserve completely missed the boat with an opportunity to begin raising US interest rates during its September policy meeting and that the chances of a US interest rate rise at all this year have weakened each passing week since,” said Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst at FXTM.
“The reduced US interest rate expectations are not limited to just slowing US economic momentum, but because the central bank cited global economic weakness as a reason to leave US rates unchanged in September.”
Monday’s agenda was relatively quiet on economic data in the US. The only notable release was a report on new home sales which showed the lowest rate in 10 months in September.
According to figures released by the Commerce Department, new home sales tumbled 11.5 % last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000, after a 5.2% gain in August. Analysts had expected a 0.4% decline to a 550,000 annual rate last month, compared with a downwardly revised 529,000 reading in the previous month.
In another knock to markets, oil prices slid after Goldman Sachs warned that refined product storage sites are coming close to maximum capacity, adding to worries about an oversupply.
Brent crude futures fell 1.4% to $47.31 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dipped 2.08% to $43.69 per barrel at 2139 GMT.
The fall hit energy stocks on the S&P 500.
Elsewhere, most Asian markets started the week upbeat note after Chinese authorities gave the green light to a new round of stimulus measures, while European stocks pulled back slightly.
“Chinese Premier Li Keqiang took the sting out of the tail of rate cut by saying China won’t defend to the death its 7% growth target,” said CMC Markets’ analyst Jasper Lawler.
“Operating within a reasonable range of growth as opposed to defending 7% would imply a willingness to allow growth to slip to perhaps as low as 6%, which would require less stimulus.”
Among companies, Apple was providing a drag ahead of Tuesday’s fourth quarter interims. Twitter’s shares gained, however, before its earnings on the same day.
Whirlpool rose after analysts at Raymond James upgraded their rating on the stock to 'strong buy'.
Pharmaceutical group Valeant declined after revealing it has formed a special committee to review allegations over relationship with mail-order Philidor Rx Services.
Management solutions provider Xerox slid after posting better-than-expected results, although revenue fell short of estimates.
S&P 500 - Risers
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LH) $117.74 +5.17%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,416.32 +3.65%
Roper Technologies Inc (ROP) $182.91 +3.42%
VF Corp. (VFC) $65.91 +3.39%
AbbVie Inc (ABBV) $51.87 +3.04%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $103.04 +3.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $123.65 +2.97%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $150.17 +2.93%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $45.33 +2.88%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $54.25 +2.61%
S&P 500 - Fallers
United States Steel Corp. (X) $10.63 -9.38%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $7.13 -8.94%
QEP Resources Inc (QEP) $14.32 -7.67%
Range Resources Corp. (RRC) $29.02 -7.34%
Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $21.66 -7.08%
Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $3.59 -6.99%
CONSOL Energy Inc. (CNX) $8.86 -6.74%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $13.15 -6.21%
Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) $13.71 -5.84%
Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $3.57 -5.05%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $54.25 +2.61%
Visa Inc. (V) $78.18 +1.44%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $187.01 +0.81%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $131.38 +0.65%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $77.49 +0.60%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $116.53 +0.53%
3M Co. (MMM) $156.54 +0.48%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $112.77 +0.44%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.36 +0.43%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $113.52 +0.38%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $115.28 -3.19%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $88.77 -2.71%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $81.22 -2.12%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $28.95 -1.36%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.59 -0.89%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $143.66 -0.70%
American Express Co. (AXP) $74.19 -0.54%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $58.02 -0.48%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $42.59 -0.47%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $100.23 -0.39%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $166.24 +5.48%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,416.32 +3.65%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $103.04 +3.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $123.65 +2.97%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $215.26 +2.95%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $54.25 +2.61%
Staples Inc. (SPLS) $12.91 +2.42%
Expedia Inc. (EXPE) $128.39 +2.38%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $53.61 +2.33%
Stericycle Inc. (SRCL) $123.09 +2.31%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFM) $30.70 -4.89%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $91.41 -4.87%
Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $123.61 -4.61%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $33.15 -4.38%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $39.55 -3.89%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $16.58 -3.83%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $61.53 -3.29%
Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR) $53.24 -3.22%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $115.28 -3.19%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $67.16 -3.14%