Stocks Opened Lower as Fed Meeting in Focus

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 164.97 points, or 0.68%, to 23,998.18. The S&P 500 declined 7.27 points, or 0.27%, to 2,640.78. The Nasdaq Composite was down 12.99 points, or 0.18%, to 7,053.28.

Oil prices declined Tuesday amid signs of rising U.S. crude production and stockpiles, despite continuing uncertainty about whether the U.S. will pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. June West Texas Intermediate crude oil shed 75 cents, or 1.1%, to $68.47 a barrel. July Brent fell 62 cents, or 0.8%, to $74.07 a barrel.

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) reported a first-quarter sales miss. Earnings for the latest quarter rose to $3.56 billion, or 59 cents per share, from $3.12 billion, or 51 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $12.91 billion from $12.78 billion.

Aetna Inc. (AET) reported Tuesday that it swung to first-quarter net income of $1.21 bln, or $3.67 a share, from a loss of $381 million, or $1.11 a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose 1% to $15.34 billion.