U.S. stocks lower amid slew of earnings and data while waiting for Fed

Investing.com – Wall Street traded lower amid a slew of company earnings and economic reports on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy decision to be announced on the following day.

At 15:10GMT, or 11:10AM ET, the Dow 30 fell 94 points, or 0.51%, the S&P 500 lost 7 points, or 0.33%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded down 11 points, or 0.22%.

Amid dozens of earnings reports, six Dow components released their numbers on Tuesday with results divided down the middle as three led the advancers on the blue-chip index while the other three led the decliners

In the red, McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) traded down more than 4% after producing an earnings-per-share (EPS) of $1.25, compared to expectations of $1.38, while revenue came out mostly in line with the $6.24 billion forecast, after a decline of 3.5% to $6.27 billion.

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) was next in line, dropping 1.9% after reporting mixed results with an EPS of $0.94, beating consensus by two cents, while revenue declined 5.2% to $30.53 billion, missing estimates for $32.0 billion.

3M (NYSE:MMM) fell 1.8% after producing mixed earnings and lowering 2016 guidance.

On the upside, United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) traded up more than 2% after beating on both the top and bottom line and lifting its guidance.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) beat consensus and shares moved higher by 1.5% despite the fact that firm lowered its full year sales outlook.

DuPont (NYSE:DD) was the third largest advancer on the blue-chip index with gains of 0.7% after reporting a better-than-expected top and bottom line.

Also on the Dow, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will release earnings on Tuesday after the close. The iPhone maker is expected to report an EPS of $1.38 on revenue of $42.34 billion.

Among a slew of U.S. economic data, consumer confidence deteriorated less than expected in July, new home sales rose more than expected to an eight-and-a-half year high in June and, although activity in the U.S. service sector unexpectedly fell in July, new orders and employment rose again while business sentiment registered a significant improvement.

With the exception of June durable goods, out on Wednesday, this was the final slew of data for the Fed to digest as it plans on the message it will deliver to markets the following day.

The Fed is not expected to take action on interest rates at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting at 18:00GMT, or 2:00PM ET, on Wednesday, as policymakers wait for the dust to settle from Britain's decision to leave the EU, but market players will scrutinize its policy statement for fresh hints on the timing of interest rate hikes over the next several months.

A recent string of positive data have increased the odds for the Fed to return to policy normalization after it raised rates for the first time in a decade last December.

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Though U.S. economic data has been positive, the combination of the fact that inflation remains below the Fed’s 2% target and concerns over global headwinds seemed enough to keep the U.S. central bank on hold.

On Tuesday, Fed fund futures saw only a 25.8% chance of a hike at the following meeting in September with odds of an increase at the end of the year at 51.6%.

Meanwhile, oil hit its lowest level since April on Tuesday as market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.

The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week ended July 22.

U.S. crude futures fell 0.67% to $42.84 a barrel by 15:12GMT or 11:12AM ET, while Brent oil lost 0.33% to $44.98.