US open: Stocks mixed as FOMC meeting begins

dl wall street st new york city nyc nyse stock exchange ny dow jones nasdaq sp finance us usa united states of america — Wall StreetSharecast photo / Josh White

Wall Street stocks were mixed early on Tuesday as market participants prepared for the outcome of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.

As of 1550 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.50% at 38,674.43, while the S&P 500 lost 0.22% to 5,349.16 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.08% firmer at 17,206.58.

The Dow opened 193.61 points lower on Tuesday, more than reversing gains recorded in the previous session as major indices clinched their first winning day in three.

This morning's moves come as investors brace for the outcome of the Fed's June policy meeting on Wednesday, with an interest rate policy decision and a subsequent press conference set to feature chairman Jerome Powell. Traders have already largely priced in expectations that the benchmark borrowing rate will remain unchanged but were beginning to grow concerned that the central bank may not move to reduce interest rates at all this year.

On the macro front, the National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index rose to 90.5 in May, ahead of expectations of 89.8 and up from 89.7 in the previous month for its highest reading in the last five. 22% of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business, unchanged from April and the top business problem among owners.

Elsewhere, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries stuck to its forecast for relatively strong growth in global oil demand in 2024, despite lower-than-expected use in Q1, noting that travel and tourism would support consumption in H2. OPEC said world oil demand would rise by 2.25m barrels per day in 2024 and by 1.85m bpd in 2025.

In the corporate space, Oracle and Rubrik will report earnings after the close.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $201.10 4.13%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $243.20 0.56%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $334.08 0.46%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $40.45 0.10%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $253.82 0.00%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $15.94 0.00%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $494.74 -0.05%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $427.39 -0.11%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $66.81 -0.23%