The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended higher on Tuesday, boosted by gains in the technology and utilities sectors, and shares of media and telecom companies jumped in extended trade after AT&T won court approval to buy Time Warner.
Time Warner
Twenty-First Century Fox Inc
Shares of other media and telecom companies rose in after-hours trading. Sprint
S&P 500 e-mini futures
During the regular session, the S&P 500 utilities index <.splrcu> rose 1.3 percent and technology <.splrct> climbed 0.6 percent, helping to push the S&P 500 up slightly.
Gains were limited during the regular session by investor caution ahead of the Federal Reserve`s policy decision. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates for the second time this year when it concludes its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
Investors are focused on how the Fed characterizes its monetary policy, looking for hints on whether it would move to raise rates three or four times this year.
"People are unsure what the Fed is going to say," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist and senior portfolio manager at SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
"I don`t think they`re going to say anything particularly related to a rate hike in December," he said. "If they say a little too much about inflation, that`s going to give the market a reason to get concerned."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.dji> fell 1.58 points, or 0.01 percent, to 25,320.73, the S&P 500 <.spx> gained 4.85 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,786.85 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> added 43.87 points, or 0.57 percent, to 7,703.79.
Data on Tuesday showed U.S. consumer prices rose marginally in May as gasoline price increases slowed and the underlying trend continued to suggest moderate inflation in the economy.
Investors showed little reaction to the historic U.S.-North Korea summit. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, but their joint statement gave few details on how the goal would be achieved.
While defence stocks such as Raytheon Co
Tesla Inc
Twitter
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.02-to-1 ratio
The S&P 500 posted 4,241 new 52-week highs and 22 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 154,139 new highs and 2,622 new lows.
About 6.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges. That compares with the 6.6 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
04:31 AM IST