U.S. stocks trade mixed ahead of Fed comment

NEW YORK, May 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited a statement after the conclusion of Federal Reserve's two-day meeting in the afternoon.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased 54.37 points, or 0.23 percent, to 24,044.68. The S&P 500 decreased 5.39 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,649.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.24 points, or 0.07 percent, to 7,135.95.

Market participants are not expecting any interest rates hikes, but they will be on the lookout for clues about the central bank's views on inflation and the economy.

On the earnings front, Apple reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell that topped Wall Street's expectations.

The company posted quarterly revenue of 61.1 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 16 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of 2.73 dollars, up 30 percent. International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Shares of the Dow component rose 3.92 percent to trade at 175.73 dollars apiece in morning session.

First quarter earnings are expected to increase 24.6 percent year-on-year, according to Thomson Reuters' latest estimates released on Monday.

Of the 274 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 79.2 percent have reported earnings above analyst expectations. This is above the long-term average of 64 percent and above the prior four quarter average of 72 percent, the estimates said.

The first-quarter blended revenue growth estimate is 8.1 percent. Some 73.6 percent of companies have reported revenue above analyst expectations, according to the estimates. Enditem