World markets today: US stocks mixed ahead of Fed rate decision

US stocks were mixed on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision due on Wednesday.

At 9:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 42.20 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 38,832.63, the S&P 500 was down 11.67 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 5,137.75, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 114.69 points, or 0.71 per cent, at 15,988.76.

At the opening bell, the S&P 500 was lower by 10.33 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 5,139.09, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 71.52 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 16,031.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 29.18 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 38,819.61.

Shares of Nvidia dropped 3.0 per cent, Super Micro Computer sank 10.6 per cent, Tesla lost 3.2 per cent and Meta Platforms dipped 2.3 per cent.

Unilever stock gained 2.9 per cent after it announced that it was spinning off Ben & Jerry’s and its ice cream business.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.30 per cent from 4.33 per cent late on Monday.

European markets were mixed on Tuesday.

Britain’s FTSE 100 edged lower 0.1 per cent at 7,717.23 points. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.4 per cent at 8,180.31. Germany’s DAX added 0.3 per cent at 17,993.75.

Euro Stoxx 50 edged up 0.3 per cent at 4,999.53.

In Asian stock markets, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.7 per cent at 3,062.76. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.2 per cent at 16,529.48.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 per cent at 40,003.60.

Crude oil prices were mostly steady on Tuesday.

The Brent crude oil futures contract for May delivery was up 10 cents to $86.99 a barrel at 1320 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices were up 12 cents to $82.28. The WTI April contract, with expires on Wednesday, was up 13 cents to $82.85.