Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	18472.17		-1.58	-0.01%
S& P 500	S& P 500 Index	2166.58		-2.60	-0.12%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ	5139.81		29.76	0.58%

 

Stocks close mixed after Fed Apple posts best day in 2 years

U.S. stocks closed mixed Wednesday after the Fed statement and major earnings reports. Gains in shares of Apple countered declines in Coca-Cola.

" I did not get the feeling it was dovish or hawkish. It was kind of neutral, really," said John Caruso, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. " It seemed like they upgraded the economy but they did not say they were ready to move forward on raising interest rates. "

As expected, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged in its statement released in the afternoon. Policymakers noted the labor market has " strengthened" and that " near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished."

" That' s their nod to Brexit and that Brexit is not going to be as big of an issue as they thought," said Bryce Doty, senior fixed income manager with Sit Investment Associates. " I think the market wanted something more definite than that, that they were going to clearly state the economy is on track. "

Analysts were divided on whether the statement pointed to a September rate hike.
" I think December is the base case at this point," said Mike Baele, managing director at US Bank Private Client Reserve. " Given the strong data, a September move is plausible and can not be ruled out. The Fed left the door open subject to data going forward. "

" The Fed' s telling us they have a plan and they' re not going to be distracted by recent things in the market, including things as big as Brexit. They' re refocusing everyone' s attention on their dual mandate," said Alan Rechtschaffen, financial advisor and senior vice president, UBS Wealth Management Americas.

U.S. crude oil futures settled down $ 1.00, or 2.33 percent, at $ 41.92 a barrel after the EIA reported a surprise crude stock build of 1.7 million barrels. The energy sector closed 1 percent lower.

The Bank of Japan is set to begin a two-day meeting on Thursday. Overnight, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government would compile a stimulus package of more than $ 265 billion to reflate the flagging economy, according to Reuters, citing media reports.

" The Japanese announcement is going to be very important for the market because you do not want the market to be disappointed. The question is, whether or not the Bank of Japan will delivery," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial.

Overseas, European stocks closed higher, with the STOXX Europe 600 Banks index outperforming with a 1 percent gain.

Asian stocks were mixed, with the Nikkei 225 up 1.7 percent and the Shanghai composite 1.9 percent lower.

Gold futures for August delivery settled up $ 5.90 at $ 1,326.70 an ounce.

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Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Industrials	18473.75		-19.31	-0.10%
S& P 500	S& P 500 Index	2169.18		0.70	0.03%
NASDAQ	NASDAQ	5110.05		12.42	0.24%

 

Stocks close mixed McDonald' s plunges in worst day since 2009

U.S. stocks closed narrowly mixed Tuesday, amid major earnings reports and ahead of the week' s central bank meetings.

Shares of McDonald' s had their worst day since July 23, 2009, with a decline of 4.47 percent Tuesday, after same-store sales growth disappointed. Quarterly earnings of $ 1.45 a share, ex-items, did beat expectations.

Earlier, the Dow briefly fell 100 points and the S & P 500 abruptly fell to session lows of 2,160 around 11 a.m. ET, before closing a few points below session highs. Traders were chattering about a sell program, and also pointed to technical levels.
The S & P hit an all-time intraday high of 2,175.63 last Wednesday, and set a closing record Friday of 2,175.03.

" Right now it' s a very technical trade. We failed at the highs from last week," said Jeremy Klein, chief market strategist at FBN Securities. Now he said traders were looking for the index to hold last Thursday' s intraday low around 2,160.

" I would not look too much into today' s price action because it keeps the SPX within its several-day consolidation phase," BTIG Chief Technical Strategist Katie Stockton said in an email. " The period of consolidation has helped alleviate widespread short-term overbought conditions (as of July 14th). "

U.S. crude oil futures settled down 21 cents, or half a percent, at $ 42.92 a barrel. Intraday, oil hit its lowest since April 20.

The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to conclude its two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon with its statement on monetary policy. Traders do not expect the Fed to raise interest rates, but will watch for indications on the timing of the next hike.
" On the Federal Reserve, I can not come up for any rationale for them to not to raise rates except that no one expects them to," Kelly said.

" I do think September is a live meeting. I think they' ll try to establish that," he said.

Gold futures for August delivery settled up $ 1.30 at $ 1,320.80 an ounce.

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