Stocks edge higher as Fed decision looms - Fox Business

Payne Capital Management wealth advisor Courtney Dominguez shares investment advice for the energy sector.

U.S. equity markets slipped ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
I:DJI	DOW JONES AVERAGES	34200.49	-98.84	-0.29%
SP500	S&P 500	4235.9	-10.69	-0.25%
I:COMP	NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX	14046.965668	-25.89	-0.18%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 66 points, or 0.19%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were little changed as of 12:30 pm ET.

The Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day meeting Wednesday. The central bank is not expected to make any policy changes, and instead, investors will be paying close attention to any hints to possibly altering its asset purchase program or interest rates in the future.

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The decision, along with the Fed’s updated projections, will cross the wires at 2 p.m. ET with Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference following shortly thereafter.

In other economic news, housing starts rose 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.572 million last month, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. April’s reading was revised lower to 1.517 million from 1.569 million. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv had expected housing starts to rise to 1.63 million.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
XHB	SPDR SERIES TRUST SPDR S&P HOMEBUILDERS ETF	71.26	-0.59	-0.82%

In stocks, big banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. were in focus ahead of the Fed's decision.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
XLF	FINANCIAL SELECT SECTOR SPDR ETF	36.97	-0.28	-0.76%
BAC	BANK OF AMERICA CORP.	40.94	-0.47	-1.15%
JPM	JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.	154.35	-0.77	-0.50%

Elsewhere, Oracle Corp. reported earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates but gave disappointing guidance for the current quarter as it plans to boost investments in its cloud-computing business.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
ORCL	ORACLE CORP.	77.38	-4.22	-5.17%

General Motors Corp. will boost electric-vehicle spending by 30% to $35 billion through 2035, taking on Tesla and Ford. It also plans to open two new U.S. factories.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
GM	GENERAL MOTORS CO.	61.50	+0.63	+1.03%
TSLA	TESLA, INC.	598.06	-1.30	-0.22%
F	FORD MOTOR CO.	14.94	-0.10	-0.63%

Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson will likely miss its COVID-19 supply target for the European Union, an EU Commission spokesperson said.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
JNJ	JOHNSON & JOHNSON	164.81	+0.33	+0.20%

Meal-kit maker Blue Apron Holdings Inc. will share more common stock. The size of the offering was undisclosed.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
APRN	BLUE APRON HOLDINGS	4.31	-1.21	-21.92%

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil ticked up 3 cents to $72.15 a barrel and gold rose $2.90 to $1,859.30 an ounce.

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Overseas markets were mixed.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.05% and Germany’s DAX slipped 0.19%.

Asian markets were lower across the board with China’s Shanghai Composite declining 1.08%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sliding 0.7% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing 0.51%.

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