WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After ending the previous session mostly higher, stocks showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reached new record intraday highs in early trading but spent the rest of the day lingering near the unchanged line.
The major averages eventually ended the day modestly lower. The Dow dipped 125.55 points or 0.3 percent to 45,757.90, the Nasdaq slipped 14.79 points or 0.1 percent to 22,333.96 and the S&P 500 edged down 8.52 points or 0.1 percent to 6,606.76.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves as the Federal Reserve began its two-day monetary policy meeting.
While the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by 25 basis points, traders will look to the accompanying statement as well as officials' latest economic projections for clues about the outlook for rates.
CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 96 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter point and a slim 4 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
The Fed is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points at both its October and December meetings, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell is likely to say future rate cuts will depend on incoming economic data.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Commerce Department report showing retail sales rose by much more than expected in the month of August.
The Commerce Department said retail sales climbed by 0.6 percent in August, matching an upwardly revised increase in July.
Economists had expected retail sales to inch up by 0.2 percent compared to the 0.5 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.
Gold stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index slumped by 2.3 percent despite a modest increase by the price of the precious metal.
Considerable weakness also emerged among utilities stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Utility Average.
On the other hand, energy stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of crude oil, driving both the NYSE Arca Oil Index and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index up by 2.2 percent.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index both rose by 0.3 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index inched up by less than a tenth of a percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is tumbled by 1.8 percent, the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.0 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index slid by 0.9 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the session before eventually closing slightly higher. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, edged down by less than a basis point to 4.026 percent.
Looking Ahead
Early trading on Wednesday may be somewhat subdued in the lead up to the Fed's monetary policy announcement later in the afternoon.
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