US open: Alphabet and Boeing please, banks wanted

US stocks were trading on a mixed note on Wednesday as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve later in the session and a mixed batch of earnings releases.

Regarding the Fed, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said: "I think there's every chance that [in the case of the Fed and the European Central Bank], policymakers opt to accept that a pause at the next meeting may be appropriate while in no way closing the door on further hikes in the months ahead.

"[...] The last thing policymakers want is for investors to perceive this to be the end of the tightening process but that will be a very tough message to get across, particularly in the absence of fresh forecasts."

At 1451 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was drifting lower by 0.01% at 35,434.31, alongside a 0.13% dip for the S&P 500 to 4,561.02, while the Nasdaq Composite was off by 0.11% to 14,127.40.

New home sales in the U.S. meanwhile were reported at down by 2.5% month-on-month in June to reach an annual rate of 697,000 (consensus: 721,000), the Department of Commerce reported.

In corporate news, PacWest was surging 28% after it agreed to merge with Banc of California.

The news was helping the KWB index of lenders' shares rise 1.73%.

Alphabet was another top gainer, climbing 7% on the back of its latest quarterly numbers.

Boeing too was wanted on the back of a far stronger than expected showing on its second quarter free cash flow, which came in at $2.58bn.

Shares of the jet maker were nearly 6% higher and trading at around 18-month highs.

Microsoft's guidance for its fiscal first quarter on the other hand underwhelmed, pushing its shares down by 3%.

Dow Jones - Risers

Boeing Co. (BA) $226.59 5.82%
3M Co. (MMM) $111.43 1.46%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $173.77 0.96%
American Express Co. (AXP) $167.68 0.71%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $327.41 0.70%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $86.03 0.47%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $30.77 0.28%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $512.17 0.24%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $355.46 0.21%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $34.17 0.21%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $340.03 -3.12%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $233.32 -0.85%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $106.65 -0.82%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $161.47 -0.67%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $290.63 -0.59%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $53.28 -0.59%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $153.31 -0.31%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $261.27 -0.30%
Visa Inc. (V) $238.05 -0.27%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $34.16 -0.23%

S&P 500 - Risers

Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) $239.41 11.07%
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $5.33 10.36%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $9.93 7.82%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $130.55 6.82%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $130.96 6.65%
Keycorp (KEY) $12.38 6.50%
Chubb Corp. (CB) $207.95 6.36%
Boeing Co. (BA) $226.59 5.82%
Comerica Inc. (CMA) $53.15 5.80%
Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $37.72 5.42%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Robert Half Inc. (RHI) $73.65 -8.18%
Affiliated Mgrs Group (AMG) $150.19 -7.04%
Allegion (ALLE) $118.85 -6.47%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $176.74 -5.02%
Quest Diagnostics (DGX) $138.61 -4.35%
Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) $143.66 -4.00%
Waste Management Inc. (WM) $164.93 -3.97%
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $167.84 -3.59%
Travel + Leisure Co (TNL) $39.94 -3.20%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $340.03 -3.12%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $130.55 6.82%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $130.96 6.65%
Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $253.08 5.24%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $1.06 3.99%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $108.72 2.39%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $66.75 1.63%
Paychex Inc. (PAYX) $127.05 1.62%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $298.74 1.45%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $38.93 1.04%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $18.95 0.82%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $176.74 -5.02%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $340.03 -3.12%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $897.73 -2.21%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $350.58 -2.09%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $419.00 -2.03%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $264.93 -1.99%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $192.12 -1.81%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $89.28 -1.72%
Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $517.49 -1.49%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $5.05 -1.46%