Wall Street was lower on Wednesday as disappointing results from Coca-Cola and weak oil offset gains fuelled by Apple, and ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates. The Fed is scheduled to issue a statement at 2:00 pm ET (1800 GMT) after a two-day policy meeting, which began on Tuesday. Traders do not expect the Fed to pull the trigger even until June next year, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
"The Fed clearly will not raise interest rates," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment strategist at Cornerstone Financial Partners. "But I think you will see a slight move in position where the Fed is going to suggest that they are looking to raise rates at least once this year." Dow component Coke's revenue miss and forecast cut sent its stock down 3.5 percent, pulling down the S&P 500 index.
In contrast, Apple shares rose 6.5 percent to $103 after the company sold more iPhones than expected in the third-quarter and gave an upbeat current-quarter forecast. At 12:55 am ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 13.77 points, or 0.07 percent, at 18,459.98.
The S&P 500 was down 5.95 points, or 0.27 percent, at 2,163.23. The Nasdaq Composite index was up 16.32 points, or 0.32 percent, at 5,126.37. Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by a 1.5 percent drop in the consumer staples index followed by a 1.02 percent decline in energy.
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