US benchmark equity indexes closed lower Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting and traders evaluated the latest economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 43,449.9, while the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to 6,050.6. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3% to 20,109.1, retreating from Monday's record close. Barring consumer discretionary, all sectors closed lower, led by industrials.
Markets widely expect that the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee will deliver a quarter-percentage-point reduction in its benchmark lending rate on Wednesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That would mark a second consecutive 25-basis-point decrease following a 50-basis-point reduction in September.
The rate decision will be accompanied by the FOMC's updated economic projections.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to "stress a slower pace of easing ahead, uncertainty over the neutral rate, and the data-dependence of the policy outlook," Macquarie said in a note emailed to clients Tuesday.
US 10- and two-year yields were little changed at 4.40% and 4.25%, respectively.
In economic news, US retail sales rose at a faster-than-projected pace last month, driven by spending on autos, data from the Census Bureau showed.
US industrial production fell for the third consecutive month in November, even as the manufacturing category returned to growth, according to Fed data.
"Apart from the good news on the automotive front, November's retail sales and industrial production numbers were nothing to write home about," Desjardins said in a report.
US homebuilder confidence held steady in December as high prices and mortgage rates offset renewed optimism about an improved regulatory environment next year, according to National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo data.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.7% to $70.21 a barrel Tuesday. Oil prices dropped on "renewed concerns" about demand in China, D.A. Davidson said in a note to clients.
In company news, Amentum (AMTM) shares slumped 9.6%, the second-steepest decline on the S&P 500. Late Monday, the company reported that its fiscal fourth-quarter pro forma non-GAAP net income and revenue fell year over year.
Pfizer (PFE) was the best performer on the S&P 500 Tuesday, up 4.7%, after the pharmaceutical giant projected higher earnings for 2025 and revenue in line with this year's likely result as it looks to continue "disciplined execution" and cost cuts.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries' (TEVA) US affiliate and partner Sanofi (SNY) said a phase 2b study of Teva's investigational duvakitug drug to treat ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease met its primary endpoints. The US-listed shares of Israel's Teva surged 26%, while those of French drugmaker Sanofi jumped 6.7%.
Gold fell 0.4% to $2,660.20 per troy ounce, while silver dropped 0.3% to $30.97 per ounce.
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