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U.S. stocks decline ahead of Fed Meeting

Xinhua, July 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded lower in the morning session Monday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's policy meeting scheduled to begin Tuesday.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101.67 points, or 0.55 percent, to 18,469.18. The S&P 500 lost 11.59 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2,163.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 12.84 points, or 0.25 percent, to 5,087.32.

Investors kept a close eye on the Fed's two-day policy meeting for more clues on the timing of a next rate hike.

Meanwhile, with no major economic data due Monday, earnings season was in the market's spotlight. The coming week is the busiest of the second-quarter earnings season, with key names, including Apple, Facebook and Exxon Mobil, slating for release.

In corporate news, U.S. telecom carrier Verizon Communications announced Monday that it will acquire U.S. technology company Yahoo's operating business for approximately 4.83 billion U.S. dollars in cash.

Following the news, shares of the former fell nearly 1 percent around midday Monday, while shares of the latter dipped over 2 percent.

U.S. stocks ran into a record setting stage in the past two weeks, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 refreshing their closing records seven times for 2016, boosted by upbeat economic data and better-than-expected quarterly results from big companies.

Last week, all three major indices rallied for a fourth consecutive week, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq going up 0.3 percent, 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

On Friday, U.S. stocks rebounded, with the S&P 500 setting a new closing record, as investors pondered over quarterly earnings and positive economic data. Endit