US open: Stocks broadly flat as investors hold fire pre-FOMC meeting

US equity markets were little changed early on Monday, ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting and big corporate earnings later in the week.

Shortly before 1400 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 15 points to 17,631.67, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were points three and six points lower respectively.

FOMC meeting in focus

The highlight of the week is the two-day Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting ending on Wednesday.

The decision itself is likely to be straightforward, with any policy change thought to be extremely unlikely, but in the absence of a press conference the market will be boring down on little details in the statement.

“This is the Fed’s last chance to convince the markets that a rate hike is coming this year, therefore December, assuming of course that it still intends to do so,” said market analyst Craig Erlam of Oanda.

Apple, Twitter to report this week

In company news, home appliances maker Whirlpool rose 2.56% after analysts at Raymond James upgraded their rating on the stock to 'strong buy'.

Going the other way, pharmaceutical group Valeant declined 4.47% after revealing it has formed a special committee to review allegations over relationship with mail-order Philidor Rx Services.

Management solutions provider Xerox slid 0.87% after posting better-than-expected results, although revenue fell short of estimates.

The earnings season will shift through during the week, with Twitter and Apple, which declined 2.54% early on Monday, set to report on Tuesday after the close.

Elsewhere, most Asian markets opened the week on an 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.”

The dollar was broadly flat against the euro and declined 0.33% and 0.12% against the yen and the pound respectively, while gold futures rose 0.15% to $1,166.25.

Oil prices have edged higher, with West Texas Intermediate gaining 0.31% to $44.74 a barrel, while Brent rose 0.25% to $48.10 a barrel.