US Stocks Hang Steady Ahead of Fed Meet12/09 15:35

   U.S. stocks largely held in place on Tuesday as Wall Street waits to hear 
what the Federal Reserve will say Wednesday about where interest rates are 
heading.

   NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks largely held in place on Tuesday as Wall Street 
waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will say Wednesday about where interest 
rates are heading.

   The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% and remained near its all-time high set in 
October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 179 points, or 0.4%, and the 
Nasdaq composite added 0.1%.

   JPMorgan Chase was the heaviest weight on the market after a top executive, 
Marianne Lake, said the bank's expenses could rise to $105 billion next year.

   That would be up 9% from an estimated $95.9 billion in expenses this year, 
though Lake also said JPMorgan Chase is "feeling pretty good about the 
underlying financial health of the borrowers in our portfolio." Its stock fell 
4.7%.

   Another drop came from Toll Brothers, which lost 2.4% after the homebuilder 
reported weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

   CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said demand for new homes remains soft across many 
markets, and he talked about "affordability pressures" that could be affecting 
potential homebuyers.

   One big factor in that affordability question is mortgage rates. They're 
cheaper than they were at the start of the year, though they perked up a bit 
after October. That's largely because of questions in the bond market about how 
much more the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate.

   The widespread expectation is that the Fed will cut interest rates Wednesday 
afternoon, which would be the third such easing of the year. Lower interest 
rates can give the economy and prices for investments a boost, though the 
downside is they can worsen inflation.

   The U.S. stock market has run to the edge of its records in part because of 
the growing assumption that the Fed will cut rates again on Wednesday.

   The big question is what the Fed will say about where interest rates will go 
after that. Many on Wall Street are bracing for talk aimed at tamping down 
expectations for more cuts in 2026.

   Inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed's 2% target, and Fed 
officials are notably split in their opinions about whether high inflation or 
the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.

   Treasury yields climbed in the bond market after a report on Tuesday showed 
that U.S. employers were advertising 7.7 million job openings at the end of 
October. That's up a smidgen from the month before and the highest number since 
May.

   If the job market is not worsening, it may not need as much help from the 
Fed through more cuts to rates.

   After the report on job openings came out, the yield on the 10-year Treasury 
erased what had been an earlier dip and rose to 4.18% from 4.17% late Monday.

   The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with 
expectations for what the Fed will do, rose to 3.60% from 3.57% late Monday.

   Elsewhere on Wall Street, Exxon Mobil climbed 2% after increasing its 
forecast for profit over the next five years, thanks in part to strength for 
its fields in the Permian basin in the United States and off Guyana's shore.

   Ares Management rallied 7.3% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the investment 
company will join its widely followed S&P 500 index. It will replace Kellanova, 
the maker of Pringles and Pop-Tarts, which is being bought by Mars, the company 
behind Snickers and M&Ms.

   CVS Health rose 2.2% after unveiling new financial forecasts, including 
expectations for annual compounded growth in earnings per share at a 
"mid-teens" percentage over the next three years.

   Home Depot fell 1.3% after flipping between gains and losses. It gave a 
preliminary forecast for 2026 that said the broad home improvement market may 
shrink by up to 1%. But it also gave a separate set of forecasts saying its 
earnings per share could grow in the mid- to high-single digit percentages if 
the housing market recovers.

   The market's most influential stock, Nvidia, slipped 0.3% after President 
Donald Trump allowed it to sell an advanced chip used in 
artificial-intelligence technology to "approved customers" in China. The H200 
is not Nvidia's top product.

   All told, the S&P 500 fell 6.00 points to 6,840.51. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average dipped 179.03 to 47,650.29, and the Nasdaq composite rose 30.58 to 
23,576.49.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed Europe and Asia.

   Indexes fell 1.3% in Hong Kong and 0.7% in Paris for two of the world's 
bigger moves.