US open: Stocks mixed as traders await FOMC decision

(Sharecast News) - Major indices got off to a mixed start early on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to big tech earnings and the Federal Reserve's first interest rate decision of 2025. As of 1540 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.13% at 44,908.36, while the S&P 500 shed 0.26% to 6,052.08 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.56% weaker at 19,622.44.

The Dow opened 58.01 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip clawed back some of this week's AI-fuelled losses.

Wednesday's primary focus will be the outcome of the FOMC's two-day monetary policy meeting, with its decision and a speech from chairman Jerome Powell both slated for 1900 GMT. The Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady at a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%. However, Donald Trump has already vowed to "demand that interest rates drop immediately".

Outside of central bank headlines, tech giants Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla will all report quarterly earnings after the close. Nvidia was also still in focus after Monday's DeepSeek-fuelled sell-off and was trading roughly 0.7% lower at the open.

On the macro front, US mortgage applications fell 2% week-on-week in the seven days ended 24 January, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. Applications to refinance a mortgage fell 7%, while applications to purchase a new home slipped 0.4%.

Elsewhere, the US goods trade balance hit a record $122.11bn in December, according to the Census Bureau, missing market expectations of $105.4bn and up sharply from November's $103.5bn print. Imports surged 3.9% to $289.6bn, potentially due to US firms rushing to secure goods ahead of rumoured tariffs, while exports dropped 4.5% to $167.5bn.

Finally, wholesale inventories fell by 0.5% month-on-month in December, according to the Census Bureau, missing market expectations for a 0.2% increase. Stocks of durable goods shrank by 0.5%, while nondurable goods inventories fell by 0.3%,

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $442.03 2.01% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $397.67 1.89% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $236.72 1.39% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $98.72 1.30% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $645.40 1.19% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $113.33 1.06% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $269.86 1.02% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $60.01 0.98% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $250.78 0.95% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $11.23 0.83%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Boeing Co. (BA) $174.68 -1.74% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $354.90 -1.40% Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.93 -0.85% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $538.48 -0.74% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $155.28 -0.60% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $41.24 -0.42% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $417.51 -0.32% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $166.46 0.16% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $226.08 0.19%

S&P 500 - Risers

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (BHF) $62.51 22.76% F5 Inc. (FFIV) $293.88 10.73% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $105.67 6.36% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $80.86 6.26% VF Corp. (VFC) $28.00 5.32% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $124.75 4.49% Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $72.00 4.14% Fluor Corp. (FLR) $48.42 4.03% Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) $262.08 3.87% Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $35.37 3.75%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Packaging Corp. Amer (PKG) $217.62 -8.72% Danaher Corp. (DHR) $230.00 -7.20% Msci Inc. (MSCI) $591.04 -5.94% Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $408.02 -3.51% Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) $70.67 -3.43% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $132.63 -3.06% Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ) $79.49 -2.87% Gen Dynamics Corp. (GD) $255.43 -2.72% Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $100.34 -2.49% Intuit Inc. (INTU) $594.14 -2.37%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $240.00 8.65% Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $725.06 7.59% Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $105.67 6.36% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $80.86 6.26% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $124.75 4.49% Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $72.37 4.41% Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $150.81 3.39% Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP) $309.38 3.20% JD.com, Inc. (JD) $41.24 3.01% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $715.25 2.54%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.36 -3.89% Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $408.15 -3.51% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $132.19 -3.06% Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $100.35 -2.49% Intuit Inc. (INTU) $592.53 -2.37% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $225.23 -2.29% Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $180.76 -1.96% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $88.93 -1.69% Hologic Inc. (HOLX) $71.61 -1.66% Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $57.37 -1.54%