Stocks Ended Mixed ahead of Fed Decision

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow registered record closing highs, helped by bank stocks, as the Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 118.77 points, or 0.49%, to 24,504.80. The S&P 500 gained 4.12 points, or 0.15%, to 2,664.11. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.76 points, or 0.19%, to 6,862.32.

Prices for Brent crude oil, pulled back Tuesday after rallying to a 2½-year high following news that a major North Sea pipeline would be shut down for weeks. February Brent crude fell $1.35, or 2.1%, to settle at $63.34 a barrel. January West Texas Intermediate crude shed 85 cents, or 1.5%, to end at $57.14 a barrel.

The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to announce its third and final interest-rate hike of 2017 on Wednesday, but investors want to see what the policy-making body signals about 2018.