U.S. Stocks Fall Ahead of Fed's Policy Meeting

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy members prepared to make their decision on the next step with interest rates.

At 10:24 ET (14:24 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 390 points, or 1.3%, while the S&P 500 was down 1.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.9%.

The market expects a three-quarter point increase in rates when the announcement comes out tomorrow. But investors are turning their attention to the Fed’s updated economic projections, which will show what the Fed thinks about the endpoint on rates as well as its forecasts for inflation and employment.

Fed officials have talked in recent weeks about their determination to tame inflation, using whatever it took, despite any pain that may cause to the economy. Investors have interpreted that to mean a recession could be in the future.

In housing data, the number of permits given to build new houses dropped in August, but housing starts showed the biggest monthly gain in over a year. Building permits fell 10% in August from the prior month, to 1.517 million, their lowest in two years. Housing starts rose more than 12% to 1.575 million, beating expectations.

The rebound in housing starts is a stark difference to other recent reports showing a cooling down in the housing market.

Companies have talked about rising costs and ongoing supply issues. Late Monday, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) said its third quarter would have higher costs and unfinished vehicles, blaming parts shortages. Ford shares fell 8% on Tuesday.

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) shares rose 7.8% after the sensor and machine vision systems maker raised its outlook for revenue in the current quarter.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures fell 2.2%, to $83.47 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude was down 2%, to $90.19 a barrel. Gold Futures fell 0.3%, to $1672 an ounce.