US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq advance as oil eases ahead of Fed decision

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced on Tuesday as easing oil prices supported risk appetite ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision this week, while investors also assessed a raft of key corporate earnings. The Fed is ‌widely expected to hold rates steady on Wednesday following an increase last month, though markets are pricing in at least two more hikes by mid-2027 as key inflation indicators remain elevated amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict.

Brent crude slipped for the second straight session in volatile trading, though it still held near its highest level since late April. At 09:57 ‌a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73.92 points, or 0.14%, to 52,287.66. The S&P 500 gained 12.45 points, or 0.16%, to 7,689.22, while the ‌Nasdaq Composite rose 98.08 points, or 0.38%, to 26,267.46.

A 3.4% drop in shares of paintmaker Sherwin-Williams following a quarterly profit miss weighed on the Dow. Six of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors advanced, with tech leading gains, while energy lagged.

Megacap and growth stocks traded mixed. Tesla shares climbed close to 3%, building on their more than 5% gain from the previous session. Chip stocks rose 1.8%, up for ⁠the third ​straight day after a bruising few weeks, while ⁠neocloud firms CoreWeave and Nebius were also trading sharply higher.

Meta fell 1.1% after the company increased its largest-ever equity fundraising to $97.5 billion to fund AI expansion. The effort has also drawn interest of up ⁠to $5 billion in total from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom. The plan comes as growing concerns over the viability of debt-funded spending in the face of rising borrowing costs have weighed on ​AI trade this month.

Against that backdrop, investors will now look to earnings from hyperscalers Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.com later this week for evidence that hefty ⁠AI investments are translating into growth. "If we see positive surprises and (earnings) raises on any of these AI stocks that are reporting from now until the Anthropic IPO, I think it's a very positive environment for ⁠the companies," ​said Peter Andersen, founder of Andersen Capital Management.

AI lab Anthropic revealed its filing for a US initial public offering on Monday, taking a big step towards a potentially record-breaking listing even as it disclosed steep losses and security concerns. Among other movers, Boeing eased 1.8% after reporting a bigger-than-expected loss in the third quarter, while water-management company ⁠Xylem dropped 8.8% after trimming full-year forecasts.

Royal Caribbean rose 6.5% after the cruise operator lifted full-year profit forecast, while General Motors gained 5% following its plan to switch ⁠its stock listing to Nasdaq. Investors are also looking ⁠ahead to the November 3 midterm elections, which will decide control of the US Congress.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.16-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by 1.24-to-1 on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and ‌no new lows, while the Nasdaq ‌Composite recorded 26 new highs and 127 new lows.