Wall Street ends flat with eyes on Fed, BoJ meeting results

Wal Street ended little changed on Tuesday as healthcare gains countered declines in energy shares, a day before highly anticipated outcomes of monetary policy meetings in the United States and Japan.

WALL STREET ended little changed on Tuesday as health care gains countered declines in energy shares, a day before highly anticipated outcomes of monetary policy meetings in the United States and Japan.

Though the Federal Reserve is not expected to raise rates on Wednesday, investors will comb the US central bank’s statement for any clues about whether it will hike in coming months.

The Bank of Japan ( BoJ) is expected to further ease its ultraloose policies, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

“Not many think the Fed is going to hike tomorrow, but whether they change the language to get a little more hawkish, there’s been conversation around that,” said Walter Todd, chief investment officer at Greenwood Capital in Greenwood, South Carolina.

“The Bank of Japan is a whole other issue unto itself… Given the level of uncertainty around those two meetings, I just think people are kind of biding their time.”

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.79 points, or 0.05%, to 18,129.96, the S&P 500 gained 0.64 points, or 0.03%, to 2,139.76 and the Nasdaq Composite added 6.33 points, or 0.12%, to 5,241.35.

Traders are projecting an 18% chance that the Fed will raise rates on Wednesday, but the probability rises to 60% for a hike at its December meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Web site.

A report on Tuesday showed US housing starts fell more than expected in August.

“It would seem at this point that, with all the recent economic data coming in just a little bit soft, that any move by the (Fed) would be a pretty nasty surprise,” said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management in Chicago.

The health care sector was the best performing major S&P sector, rising 0.40%.

Allergan said it would pay up to $1.7 billion to buy Tobira Therapeutics, which is developing therapies for NASH, an incurable fatty liver disease. Tobira shares soared more than 700%, while Allergan shares fell 2.70%.

Shares of Gilead Sciences, which is also developing drugs for NASH, rose 3.50% and gave the biggest boost to the S&P and the Nasdaq.

Wells Fargo shares rose 1.20% after the bank’s chief executive weathered criticism as he testified before a US Senate panel.

Energy shares were the worst performing group, falling 0.80%. Exxon fell 1.50%. A Wall Street Journal report said the US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating how the oil major valued its assets in the wake of the plunge in oil prices.

About 5.8 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 6.7 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.28- to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.10-to-1 ratio favored decliners. —