US close: Stocks mixed amid barrage of earnings, data

US stocks were mixed on Tuesday, with the Dow rising but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq firmly in the red, as investors digested a barrage of corporate earnings as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting.

The Dow finished the session up 0.5% at 40,743.33 as it continues to claw its way back towards its record close of 41,198.08 set on 17 July. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 closed down 0.5% while the Nasdaq slumped 1.3%.

There was also a host of economic data to contend with on Tuesday. The average price of a single-family house rose by 5.7%. year-on-year in May, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, marking the slowest increase in ten months.

The Conference Board's July consumer confidence index came in ahead of expectations at 100.3, beating estimates for a reading of 99.7 but down from last month's print of 100.4.

Finally, US job openings were little changed at 8.18m in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from an upwardly revised reading of 8.23m in May but ahead of expectations for a print of 8.0m.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank started its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday afternoon, with its latest interest rate decision set to be revealed on Wednesday. Economists widely expect the central bank to keep rates unchanged.

Earnings deluge

Earnings were Tuesday's primary focus, with a host of blue chips reporting, and more due out after the closing bell, such as heavyweights Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices and Starbucks.

Pfizer gained 2.2% as the pharma giant lifted its full-year profit forecast after second-quarter sales of its Covid vaccine and antiviral treatment came in better than expected.

PayPal surged nearly 9% after reporting a strong set of second-quarter results and hiking its full-year earnings forecast as the California-based payments giant delivered an 8% year-on-year revenue increase to $7.89bn, slightly above consensus estimates of $7.81bn.

Heading the other way was Merck which lost around 10% of its market value despite quarterly earnings coming in ahead of expectations and the company even upgrading its full-year sales outlook. Market chatter pointed to disappointing sales of its Gardasil vaccine due to shipment issues in China.

Procter & Gamble's stock took a hit after the American consumer goods giant underwhelmed investors with its quarterly sales figures. P&G's fourth-quarter earnings came in better than expected, but revenues missed the mark by some $200m, causing shares to tank 5%.

Electric car giant Tesla was in reverse, dropping 3.2% after being forced to update the software of more than 1.8m vehicles in the US after a software issue relating to the bonnet opening latch.

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $12.14 3.41%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $220.52 3.08%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $505.67 2.63%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $215.19 2.06%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $266.44 1.92%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $159.57 1.90%
American Express Co. (AXP) $252.42 1.83%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $93.79 1.79%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $161.31 1.73%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $576.33 1.69%