U.S. Stocks Close Modestly Lower As Fed Meeting Looms

(RTTNews) - Stocks moved to the upside at the start of trading on Monday but moved lower over the course of the trading session. The major averages pulled back off their early highs and into negative territory.

The major averages staged a short-lived recovery attempt in mid-day trading but all ended the day in the red. The Dow fell 215.67 points or 0.5 percent to 47,739.32, the Nasdaq edged down 32.22 points or 0.1 percent to 23,545.90 and the S&P 500 decreased 23.89 points or 0.4 percent to 6,846.51.

The modest pullback on Wall Street may partly have reflected profit taking following recent strength in the markets, which saw the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reach their best closing levels in a month last Friday.

Overall trading activity remain was subdued, however, as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision on Wednesday.

With the Fed widely expected to lower interest rates by another quarter point, traders are likely to pay close attention to the accompanying statement for clues about the likelihood of further rate cuts next year.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 89.4 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point on Wednesday but a 60.5 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged in January.

"Markets may not rally if we get a 25 basis-point cut, given how investors are already expecting it to happen," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

He added, "Instead, markets are only likely to move in a large way up or down if we don't get a cut or if the cut is much bigger than expected."

Sector News

Gold stocks moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 2.1 percent.

Significant weakness was also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 loss posted by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.

Utilities, natural gas and healthcare stocks also saw notable weakness, while networking, computer hardware and semiconductor stocks saw some strength on the day.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.2 percent and China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped by 1.2 percent.

The major European market indexes also ended the day on opposite sides of the unchanged line. While the German DAX Index crept up by 0.1, the French CAC 40 Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dipped by 0.2 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries are extending the downward move seen over the two previous sessions. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 4.3 basis points at 4.182 percent.

Looking Ahead

A report on job openings in the month of October may attract attention on Tuesday, although trading activity may remain somewhat subdued as the Fed's two-day meeting gets underway.