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U.S. stocks trade mixed around midday amid earnings

Xinhua, July 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks were mixed around midday Tuesday as investors digested a batch of quarterly earnings reports from big companies while eyeing the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 46.67 points, or 0.25 percent, to 18,446.39. The S&P 500 lost 1.96 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,166.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.60 points, or 0.09 percent, to 5,102.23.

Analysts believed that the U.S. central bank will keep its interest rates unchanged after the conclusion of the meeting Wednesday.

In corporate news, before Tuesday's opening bell, 3M reported second-quarter earnings of 2.08 U.S. dollars per share, generally in line with market estimates. The firm lowered its guidance for 2016 sales growth. Its shares fell over 1 percent around midday Tuesday.

Shares of Caterpillar jumped nearly 3 percent around midday Tuesday after the U.S. construction and mining equipment maker delivered better-than-expected quarterly results.

Shares of McDonald's corp. tumbled more than 4 percent around midday Tuesday following the release of the company's disappointing quarterly earnings report.

On the economic front, U.S. sales of new single-family houses in June 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, beating market consensus, said the Commerce Department Tuesday. This is 3.5 percent above the revised May rate of 572,000 and is 25.4 percent above the June 2015 estimate.

On Monday, U.S. stocks ended lower after wavering in a tight range, as a decline in oil prices weighed on Wall Street. Enditem