Dow jumps more than 100 points as traders weigh earnings and Fed meeting kicks off: Live updates

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Tuesday as investors digested key corporate earnings and looked to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting.

The 30-stock Dow climbed 129 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 shed 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.8%.

CrowdStrike shares fell about 9.5% after CNBC reported that Delta Air Lines hired attorney David Boies to seek damages from the cybersecurity company and Microsoft after an outage this month led to thousands of flight cancellations.

Merck shares dropped 9% as weaker-than-expected guidance for the full year overshadowed a strong second-quarter report. Pfizer, meanwhile, lost 2.3%% despite posting stronger-than-anticipated earnings and revenue. The company also raised its full-year top and bottom line guidance.

Investors will also watch closely for numbers from Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices and Starbucks after the closing bell.

The earnings season has been a solid one thus far. Of the more than 230 S&P 500 names that have reported, about 80% have beaten earnings expectations, according to data from FactSet.

“We are seeing a broadening in earnings growth,” Mona Mahajan, Edward Jones principal and senior investment strategist, said. “We do think that with tech earnings, the bar is high. If we get any whiffs of a cooling in AI spending, we could see the stocks pull back a bit. But we’ve already gone through a decent correction.”

Mahajan added that the soft landing narrative remains intact, in her view, and that a potential rate cut from central bankers coupled with moderating inflation could lend to a strong backdrop for a continued broadening of the market as traders look to areas outside of megacap technology.

The Fed’s two-day policy meeting began Tuesday, with investors hoping Chair Jerome Powell will signal the timing and number of rate cuts expected in the next few months. Traders have priced in a 100% chance for a September rate reduction, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

“Inflation is trending lower, supporting Federal Reserve rate cuts,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. “This, coupled with a still robust economic outlook and strong corporate earnings, should bolster risk assets and lead to a broadening of returns away from just technology.”