Wall St gives up gains as Coke, weak oil drag (Update 1)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 26, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

NEW YORK: Wall Street gave up early gains after disappointing earnings from Coca-Cola and weak oil prices offset a boost from Apple.

Coke’s revenue miss and forecast cut sent its stock down 3.4%, making it the biggest drag on the S&P and the Dow.

However, Apple shares rose 6.7% to US$103.09 after the company sold more iPhones than expected in the third-quarter and gave an upbeat current-quarter forecast.

Investors are also awaiting the US Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rate hikes later in the day.

While the central bank is expected to keep rates steady for now, a recent set of strong economic data could make a case for an increase in the coming months.

“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.”

Traders have priced in a 19.5% of a rate increase in September and a 42.8% chance in December, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

At 11:08am ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10.64 points, or 0.06%, at 18,484.39.

The S&P 500 was down 2.98 points, or 0.14%, at 2,166.2.

The Nasdaq Composite index was up 22.66 points, or 0.44%, at 5,132.70.

Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by 1.2% drop in the consumer staples index.

Oil prices tumbled more than 2%, hitting a two-month low, after the US government reported a surprise build in crude and gasoline inventories during the peak summer driving season.

Twitter plunged 12.3% after the microblogging service provider reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public in 2013.

Facebook, Amgen and Whole Foods are expected to report after the bell on Wednesday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,463 to 1,371. On the Nasdaq, 1,525 issues rose and 1,137 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 37 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 92 new highs and 11 new lows. - Reuters