NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were little changed early Wednesday ahead of a Federal Reserve decision as traders hammered Starbucks and CVS Health following disappointing results.

Markets have pushed back expectations for when the Fed will start cutting interest rates in light of elevated US inflation.

Private-sector hiring in April cooled compared with the prior month, but still topped expectations, payroll firm ADP said Wednesday.

US stocks dip amid caution ahead of Fed decision

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 percent at 37,835.75.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.2 percent to 5,024.80, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was unchanged at 15,654.35.

Amazon jumped 3.1 percent after reporting that profit in the first three months of 2024 tripled as its cloud, ads, and retail businesses thrived.

But Starbucks plunged 15.3 percent as it reported a drop in profits, pointing to weakening consumer sentiment and lackluster conditions in China as factors behind an earnings miss.

Drugstore giant CVS Health dove 18.7 percent as it cut its profit forecast range on higher costs connected with its Medicare coverage plan.