Stocks were mixed Wednesday following earnings from tech giants Apple (AAPL) – Get Report and Microsoft (MSFT) – Get Report and aerospace giant Boeing (BA) – Get Report and as Wall Street awaited a policy decision from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101 points, or 0.29%, to 34,957, the S&P 500 rose 0.01% and the Nasdaq was up 0.71%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose Wednesday to 1.256%.
Central bank officials are expected to discuss Wednesday when they might begin pulling back on stimulus.
“We’re not expecting fireworks at this Fed meeting,” said LPL Financial fixed income strategist Lawrence Gillum. “But we are expecting the committee to go further down the road in discussing the when and how to start removing the emergency level monetary accommodation it has been providing markets.”
The policy statement from the Federal Reserve is expected at 2 p.m. ET followed by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.m.
Boeing posted its first quarterly profit in more than two years, sending shares in the world’s biggest planemaker sharply higher on Wednesday.
Apple posted much stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings amid surging iPhone sales and a big comeback in China but the stock declined Thursday after the tech giant warned that growth could be slowing.
Microsoft’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, meanwhile, topped analysts’ forecasts but investor concerns about slowing growth in the company’s Azure division limited gains for the stock Wednesday.
Stocks finished lower Tuesday with the S&P 500 ending a five-day streak of gains. Sentiment was dented by a regulatory crackdown in China that sent technology shares reeling and jitters about the rising delta variant of COVID-19.
Investors have been adjusting growth and inflation prospects following a change in mask guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommended that vaccinated Americans should wear masks indoors and that school children should wear them later this fall.
The guidance provided a stark reminder that a resurgence of the coronavirus could uproot the economic recovery that has been underpinning what so far has been an impressive earnings season.
It may also affect the Fed’s timing on signaling any changes to its accommodative policy stance, which includes record low interest rates, billions in monthly bond purchases and myriad forms of liquidity support for the broader financial system.
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