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* Fed policy decision due at 2 p.m. ET
* GE gains on profit beat, cash flow forecast
* Yum Brands drops after profit misses
* U.S. GDP growth slows less than expected in Q3
* Indexes: Dow up 0.09%, S&P off 0.06%, Nasdaq down 0.15%
(Adds comment, updates to early afternoon)
By Arjun Panchadar
Oct 30 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrials
were flat on Wednesday as investors assessed mixed corporate
reports, while bracing for a policy decision by the Federal
Reserve later in the day.
Shares of General Electric Co GE.N jumped 9.5% after the
industrial conglomerate beat quarterly profit estimates and
raised its cash forecast for the year. Yum Brands Inc YUM.N shed 8% and was among the top
decliners on the benchmark index as the KFC owner missed
quarterly profit expectations. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to cut interest
rates for the third time this year to counter any fallout from a
protracted trade war with China on the domestic economy.
The Fed decision is due at 2 p.m. ET followed by a news
conference by Chair Jerome Powell.
The interest-rate sensitive banking sub-sector .SPXBK
slipped 0.85%. Five of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower,
with losses in the energy sector .SPNY weighing the most.
Hopes of a rate cut and recent optimism around the trade
talks had propelled the benchmark S&P 500 to record highs in the
previous two sessions.
"The (rate) cut expected today is largely baked in but the
question is if the Fed uses this as an opportunity to pause and
assess whether the easing that has taken place has had the
desired effect," said Mike Loewengart, vice president,
investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial Corp.
U.S. economic growth slowed less than expected in the third
quarter, a Commerce Department report showed, as declining
business investment was offset by resilient consumer spending
and a rebound in exports, further allaying financial market
fears of a recession. About 74.1% of the 278 S&P 500 companies that have reported
so far have beaten profit estimates, according to Refinitiv
data.
However, profit growth forecasts for the next four quarters
have been revised lower, even as expectations of a drop in
third-quarter earnings eased to 1.6%, compared with a 2.2% fall
at the start of the month.
"Estimates in aggregate are coming down for 2020 and that's
one of the most telling things that's happening in the markets,"
said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GlobAlt
Investments in Atlanta.
Shares of tech heavyweight Apple Inc AAPL.O and social
media giant Facebook Inc FB.O fell ahead of their earnings
reports due after the bell. They were the biggest drags on the
Nasdaq.
At 12:56 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 24.00 points, or 0.09%, at 27,095.42, the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 1.95 points, or 0.06%, at 3,034.94 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 12.51 points, or 0.15%, at 8,264.34.
Buoying the Dow was a 2.5% rise in shares of Johnson &
Johnson JNJ.N . The company said 15 new tests found no asbestos
in a bottle of baby powder that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration says tested positive for trace amounts of
asbestos. FDA said it stands by its finding. Mattel Inc MAT.O surged nearly 13% after the U.S. toymaker
reported a surprise jump in quarterly revenue. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.37-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.49-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded nine new 52-week highs and four new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and 58 new lows.