Wall Street stocks a mixed bag at the close as tech earnings power Nasdaq into the green

4.10pm Wall Street holds steady at the close US stocks were mixed at the close on Wednesday as investors digested big companny earnings and prepared for a new slew of reporting. The S&P 500 finished flat on the day at 4,401 points, while the Dow Jones lost around 128 points to close at 34,931 points. The Nasdaq bucked the trend, however, adding 102 points for a 0.7% gain to finish the day at 14,763 points. 12.20pm: US stocks mixed at lunch US benchmarks were mixed at lunch as traders gear up for a Fed announcement over policy in the next hour or so. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed around 60 points at 34,997 but the S&P 500 gained around three at 4,404. The tech laden Nasdaq was continuing to pound north though, up over 104 points at 14,764. Wall Street is jittery ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision regarding the process of easing back on stimulus measures, like asset purchasing, amid rising inflation. "The chorus of bears that never seems to quieten despite the plethora of record highs across stock markets will no doubt declare tapering will be the event that finally unhinges the great bull market of 2009-2021, but this is not 2013," said Chris Beauchamp, the chief market analyst at IG. But he added: "The Fed and markets have been here before, and while the chairman of the Fed may have changed a couple of times since then the FOMC is much more accomplished in communicating the details of the taper, when it arrives, and so a market selloff purely on the mention of the ‘T word’ is unlikely." In stocks, tech firms were top gainers. Top riser on the S&P 500 was Advanced Micro Devices Inc, which added 6.345. Xilinx Inc was also over6% higher on the day. 11.10am: Proactive North America headlines: ESE Entertainment releases details regarding the esports talent show SkillzVault by Bitcoin Vault Todos Medical Ltd hires CRO Innvocept Global Solutions to manage two Tollovir coronavirus trials in India Vuzix creates new software-as-a-service based Integration Solutions Business Unit PharmaDrug reveals study results showing cepharanthine significantly inhibits cancer cell growth in 20 different cancers CanaFarma's Vertical Wellness says it will launch its ‘long anticipated’ line of CBD beverages in US market CO2 GRO announces CO2 Delivery Solutions commercial feasibility with US-based floriculture greenhouse Binovi Technologies continues to execute on its growth strategy as it files its financial statements for the twelve months ended February 28, 2021 Great Bear poised for phase 2 drilling at flagship Dixie project; eyeing maiden resource by first quarter 2022 GlobeX Data (CSE:SWIS, OTCQB:SWISF) continues Sekur US launch with 156 billboards across six New York City subway stations Golden Tag Resources applies for permits to quadruple the drill pads at its San Diego project in Mexico American Battery Metals retains ‘operational leader’ Andrés Meza as chief operating officer Vicinity Motor says selected for statewide bus contract in California Logiq teams up with GumGum to bring contextual targeting and brand safety to e-commerce marketers The Valens Company (TSX:VLNS, OTCQX:VLNCF) Inc to manufacture and distribute Harvest One's cannabis-infused topicals across Canada PlantX Life has announced the launch of, XFood its meal delivery service in the United States Versus Systems Inc launches HP OMEN Rewards in India, the UK and Mexico Braxia Scientific Corp awarded C$918,000 to study effectiveness of ketamine and cognitive behavioural therapy combo in reducing suicidality Vox Royalty (TSX-V:VOX) doubles its 2021 royalty revenue guidance as the "true earnings power" of its portfolio begins to show Ketamine One (NEO:MEDI.AQN) makes moves on the research front to advance its work on psychedelics and nutraceuticals Gold Resource Corp reports strong year-to-date operating cash flow of $16.1M New Pacific Metals (TSX:NUAG, NYSE:NEWP) kicks off 38,000 metre diamond drill program at its flagship Silver Sand project in Bolivia Empower Clinics launches search for new chief financial officer First Mining Gold pens mineral exploration agreement with First Nation community for the Cameron (NYSE:CAM) gold project BlueRush appoints Nicole Ballestrin as its new chief financial officer KULR Technology wins special DoT permit authorizing the transport of damaged, defective, or recalled lithium-ion batteries First Cobalt (TSX-V:FCC, OTCQX:FTSSF) announces two-year joint plant study with Timiskaming First Nation at Cobalt camp district XPhyto says its acquisition target 3a-Diagnostics identifies coronavirus biosensor candidates 9.36am: Wall Street starts mostly higher The main indices on Wall Street managed to open mostly higher on Wednesday as investor anxiously awaited the outcome of the Fed’s meeting. Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.06% at 35,077 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.1% to 4,405 and the Nasdaq rose 0.43% to 14,723. Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe, said: "[The Fed meeting is] being hyped up so much, I can't help but feel it's going to be a huge anticlimax. Given how the data is performing - talk of peak recovery - the believed transitory nature of the inflation numbers and the surge in Covid cases as the next wave takes hold, it seems highly likely that the Fed is going to kick the can down the road. "Unless policy makers are starting to question the transitory nature of the inflation data we're seeing, there seems little reason to risk a taper tantrum in the markets when solid progress is being made. Clearly it's coming soon but the Fed can afford to act with caution. The question is whether they will signal when it is likely, if not in the coming months and how investors will take it." 7:50am: Wall Street to make cautiously mixed start Wall Street looks like it is playing things cautiously ahead of the outcome of the latest Federal Reserve meeting. As well as continuing concerns about inflation - which could either be eased or exacerbated by the Fed's comments later - investors are worried about the rising number of Delta variant cases and the repercussions of China's latest clampdown on tech and other private sector businesses. On the plus side are the growing signs of economic recovery as evidenced by a number of upbeat second quarter statements from major companies. So the Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to open down 43 points or 0.14%, while the S&P 500 is virtually flat and the Nasdaq Composite is indicated up 0.24%. The record profit announced by Google parent Alphabet after the market closed on Tuesday seem to have been well received, with its shares up 3.9% in pretrading. But Apple has lost nearly 1% after it hinted that its rate of growth could slow. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) meanwhile has slipped 0.59% despite just now reporting results ahead of expectations. Four things to watch for on Wednesday: Another big day of earnings in the diary, which aside from Facebook also includes announcements from PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Inc, Shopify (TSX:SH., NYSE:SHOP) Inc, McDonald’s Corp and QUALCOMM Inc Shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corp and Google owner Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) will be in focus after quarterly results reported after Tuesday’s close Language learning app Duolingo is making its debut on the Nasdaq on Wednesday morning after pricing its IPO at US$102 per share, above its previously expected range of US$95-US$100 On the macro front, aside from the action at the Fed there may also be interest in the latest US trade balance as well as wholesale inventory data