US stocks slip ahead of Big Tech earnings and as Fed kicks off latest policy meeting

• Stocks slipped as investors await Big Tech firms to start releasing their earnings.

• Alphabet and Microsoft are set to report this afternoon, with Amazon, Meta, and Apple following this week.

• Focus is also centered on the Fed’s two-day meeting that starts on Tuesday.

Stocks dipped slightly Tuesday morning as investors wait for some of the world’s biggest companies to release fourth-quarter earnings results.

Microsoft and Alphabet are scheduled to report after the closing bell on Tuesday, offering traders a glimpse at how sustainable the market’s recent rally is and if the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks will continue their strong run of outperformance.

Later in the week, Amazon, Meta, and Apple will also release earnings results for the last three months of 2023.

Among other firms, estimate-beating results from General Motors buoyed shares over 7%, while electronics-maker Sanmina soared more than 15% on strong earnings. UPS, Whirlpool, and JetBlue were among companies that fell on missed projections.

Investors are also focused on the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting, which starts on Tuesday. Though markets strongly expect interest rates to remain unchanged this month, traders can look forward to Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 pm on Wednesday for more clues about the path of monetary policy.

Here’s where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Tuesday: 

Here’s what else happened today: 

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In commodities, bonds, and crypto: 

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.25% to $76.99 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, traded flat at $82.31 a barrel.

• Gold rose 1% to $2,066.30 per ounce.

• The 10-year Treasury yield slipped three basis points to 4.057%.

• Bitcoin stayed essentially flat at $43,253.

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