U.S. stocks end mixed amid earnings reports

U.S. stocks closed mixed Tuesday, as investors digested a batch of quarterly earnings reports while eyeing the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 19.31 points, or 0.10 percent, to 18,473.75. The S&P 500 edged up 0.70 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,169.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 12.42 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,110.05.

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 dipped 1.10 percent to 177.66 U.S. dollars apiece Tuesday.

Shares of Caterpillar surged 5.16 percent to 82.75 dollars apiece Tuesday after the U.S. construction and mining equipment maker delivered better-than-expected quarterly results.

Shares of McDonald's corp. tumbled 4.47 percent to 121.71 dollars apiece Tuesday following the release of the company's disappointing quarterly earnings report.

The latest data from Thomson Reuters showed that the S&P 500 companies' blended earnings in the second quarter of 2016 are expected to decrease 3.5 percent year on year, while the revenues are forecast to decline 0.1 percent.

Meanwhile, investors watched closely on the Fed's two-day policy meeting. Analysts believed that the U.S. central bank will keep its interest rates unchanged after the conclusion of the meeting Wednesday.

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.

"The housing recovery continues to chug along as steady hiring and sustained low mortgage rates continue to lead home sales slowly upward," said Sophia Kearney-Lederman, an economic analyst at FTN Financial. Endit