US open: Stocks trade lower ahead of Fed decision

Wall Street stocks opened lower on Wednesday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve's all-important interest rate decision.

As of 1525 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.16% at 32,600.47, while the S&P 500 lost 0.53% to 3,835.71 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.95% weaker at 10,786.86.

The Dow opened 52.73 points lower on Wednesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Wednesday's primary focus will be the central bank's interest rate decision, with the Fed widely expected to reveal a fourth straight 0.75% rate hike as part of an effort to combat high inflation.

However, market participants also hope to find some sort of hint that chairman Jerome Powell, who will likely play a pivotal role in determining which direction stocks will go over the coming months, is ready to cool the speed of its rate-hiking plan before the end of the year.

The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision at 1900 GMT, which will then be followed by a press conference at 1330 GMT.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications dipped 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the seven days ended 28 October - a sixth consecutive weekly decline. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the purchase index fell 0.8%, while the refinancing index increased by 0.2%.

Elsewhere, US companies added 239,000 jobs in October, according to ADP, beating estimates for a print of 195,000 and September's downwardly revised 192,000 reading. Wages rose 7.7% year-on-year, down 0.1% month-on-month.

In the corporate space, Estée Lauder shares were lower after issuing weaker-than-expected guidance, while Caesars Entertainment topped estimates on both the top and bottom lines.

Ford reported a 10% drop in sales during October as a result of ongoing supply chain issues, while media giant Paramount missed top and bottom line expectations for the third quarter.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $37.91 1.45%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $183.77 0.54%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $36.44 0.51%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $47.14 0.45%
Boeing Co. (BA) $143.94 0.39%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $296.93 0.29%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $273.54 0.21%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $349.30 0.21%
3M Co. (MMM) $125.47 0.14%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $28.33 0.09%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $155.09 -2.96%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.81 -2.07%
Visa Inc. (V) $204.22 -1.31%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $171.39 -0.98%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $149.29 -0.90%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $226.15 -0.89%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $180.70 -0.83%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $134.09 -0.59%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $141.14 -0.39%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $59.41 -0.39%

S&P 500 - Risers

CVS Health Corp (CVS) $98.75 4.36%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $131.23 3.93%
Flowserve Corp. (FLS) $28.66 2.95%
Healthpeak Properties, Inc (PEAK) $24.49 2.88%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $139.26 2.83%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $391.78 2.55%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $15.44 2.52%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $61.15 2.50%
Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) $168.77 2.42%
Qorvo, Inc. (QRVO) $88.37 2.15%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Extra Space Storage (EXR) $160.15 -9.97%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $71.60 -7.38%
Broadridge Fin Sol (BR) $139.93 -6.46%
TE Connectivity Ltd (TEL) $115.82 -6.17%
Public Storage (PSA) $288.78 -6.13%
Estee Lauder Co. Inc. (EL) $194.18 -6.09%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $92.53 -5.43%
Western Union Co. (WU) $12.94 -5.10%
Clorox Co. (CLX) $139.30 -5.02%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $29.46 -4.97%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $17.78 4.49%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $131.23 3.93%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $18.55 3.92%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $25.25 2.87%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $139.26 2.83%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $15.44 2.52%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $39.32 2.29%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $91.36 1.75%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $69.04 1.74%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $6.16 1.65%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $29.46 -4.97%
Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $173.72 -4.27%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $91.69 -4.15%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $893.16 -2.85%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $93.08 -2.23%
Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $148.42 -2.10%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $281.04 -1.99%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $224.04 -1.66%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $747.52 -1.63%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,859.06 -1.61%