NEW YORK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded mixed Tuesday as investors awaited key speeches from Federal Reserve official as well as a batch of first-quarter earnings reports.
At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.49 points, or 0.01 percent, to 21,010.79. The S&P 500 added 0.75 points, or 0.03 percent, to 2,400.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 16.50 points, or 0.27 percent, to 6,119.16.
On the economic front, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will deliver speeches later on Tuesday.
Investors will closely watch their speeches for hints about the upcoming policy decision.
The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rates unchanged last week as it waited for more data to assess the U.S. economic outlook. But the Fed policymakers hinted at a possible rate hike in June.
Market expectations for a June rate hike were 87.7 percent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool Tuesday.
In the meantime, the number of job openings was little changed at 5.7 million on the last business day of March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday.
In corporate news, shares of Marriott International Inc. gained nearly six percent in intraday trading after the company reported better-than-expected earnings on Monday. Its first-quarter diluted earnings per share totaled 0.94 U.S. dollars, an 11 percent increase year-on-year.
Disney, News Corp., and Discovery Communications are among the companies that will report the first-quarter earnings after the bell.
On Monday, the CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, closed down 0.80 point at 9.77, lowest in more than two decades. Enditem
