Investing.com-- U.S. stocks fell Tuesday as data pointing to wage pressure stoked inflation concerns just as the Federal Reserve gets its two-meeting underway.
At 18:30 ET (17:2030 GMT), Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 387 points, or 1%, S&P 500 dropped 1%, while NASDAQ Composite fell 1.2%.
The main Wall Street indices are on course to record losses of between 2.4% and 3.6% in April, with sentiment hit as strong economic data, and inflation numbers in particular, saw traders price out expectations for early rate cuts this year.
Sticky inflation weighs on rate cut hopes
U.S. labor costs increased more than expected in the first quarter, driven by a rising wages and benefits, stoking fresh concerns about inflation just as investor bets on Fed rate cuts continue to cool.
The Employment Cost Index increased 1.2% last quarter after rising by an unrevised 0.9% in the fourth quarter, while labor costs increased 4.2% on a year-on-year basis.
The report followed data last week that showed price pressures heating up in the first quarter.
The Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy-setting meeting Tuesday, and is widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, where it has been since July.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell remarks that will follow the monetary policy statement is likely to take on added importance as investors are eager for clues on whether the Fed chief is likely to adopt the market’s less dovish view on the rate outlook.
"The FOMC is likely to stick to its message that higher inflation has delayed cuts at its May meeting," Goldman Sachs said in a recent note.
Investors have largely priced out the likelihood of rate cuts this summer, with September now seen as the favorite month for the Fed to start a rate-cutting cycle, according to the CME Fedwatch tool.
Eli Lilly, 3M, Coca-Cola deliver earnings beat, but McDonald's earnings misses
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) stock rose 5% after after the pharmaceutical giant reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, and hiked its full-year guidance on strong sales of its blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro and newly launched weight loss treatment Zepbound.
3M Company (NYSE:MMM) stock rose 3% after the industrial conglomerate topped analysts’ expectations for its first quarter, adding that it expects its dividend payout ratio to be approximately 40% of adjusted free cash flow.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) was lower despite the beverage giant reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that beat expectations, and raising its full-year outlook for organic revenue.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) slipped after its reporting weaker than expected Q1 earnings as same-store sales missed analyst estimates as calls to boycott on the chain amid the ongoing Middle East war weighed on growth.
Paramount falls after CEO exits; HSBC in multi-year highs as CEO departs; Paypal shines on earnings stage
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) fell more than 5% after announcing that Chief Executive Bob Bakish has stepped down amid ongoing talks over a potential tie-up talks with David Ellison's Skydance Media.
HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) unveiled a stronger-than-expected Q1 profit and said that Chief Executive Noel Quinn would retire after nearly five years in the role. It shares rose more than 5%, to remain on course for its highest close since May 2019.
PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock rose more than 1% after the payments system operator posted a better-than-anticipated 14% year-on-year uptick in first-quarter total payment volume to $403.9 billion.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
