US stocks dip ahead of Fed meeting, tech earnings

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks edged lower in opening trading Monday ahead of a heavy calendar of corporate earnings and economic news, including a Federal Reserve decision.

Major indices finished at records Friday, as enthusiasm about strong corporate earnings reassured investors unnerved at the start of last week by the uptick in Covid-19 cases caused by the Delta variant.

This week's earnings calendar includes tech giants such as Amazon and Facebook, industrial players like Boeing and consumer-oriented names such as McDonald's.

For the second quarter, the earnings growth rate for S&P 500 companies is currently at 74.2 percent based on the reports thus far, according to a report from Factset.

The Federal Reserve is expected to maintain its easy-money policies on Wednesday, but the announcement and press conference will be scrutinized for hints of when the central bank could begin tapering its massive monthly debt purchases.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 35,015.12.

The broad-based S&P 500 was essentially flat at 4,411.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.1 percent at 14,820.28.

Among individual companies, Lockheed Martin dropped 2.9 percent as the company's aeronautics profits slipped in the quarter due to "performance issues experienced on a classified program."

But Hasbro jumped 8.7 percent following better-than-expected results as the toymaker's revenues increased by 54 percent to $1.3 billion.