US stocks hold in place in the countdown to the Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks largely held in place on Tuesday as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will say Wednesday about where interest rates are heading.

The S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% and remained near its all-time high set in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 179 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.1%.

JPMorgan Chase was the heaviest weight on the market after a top executive, Marianne Lake, said the bank’s expenses could rise to $105 billion next year.

That would be up 9% from an estimated $95.9 billion in expenses this year, though Lake also said JPMorgan Chase is “feeling pretty good about the underlying financial health of the borrowers in our portfolio.” Its stock fell 4.7%.

Another drop came from Toll Brothers, which lost 2.4% after the homebuilder reported weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

CEO Douglas Yearley Jr. said demand for new homes remains soft across many markets, and he talked about “affordability pressures” that could be affecting potential homebuyers.

One big factor in that affordability question is mortgage rates. They’re cheaper than they were at the start of the year, though they perked up a bit after October. That’s largely because of questions in the bond market about how much more the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate.

The widespread expectation is that the Fed will cut interest rates Wednesday afternoon, which would be the third such easing of the year. Lower interest rates can give the economy and prices for investments a boost, though the downside is they can worsen inflation.

The U.S. stock market has run to the edge of its records in part because of the growing assumption that the Fed will cut rates again on Wednesday.

The big question is what the Fed will say about where interest rates will go after that. Many on Wall Street are bracing for talk aimed at tamping down expectations for more cuts in 2026.

Inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target, and Fed officials are notably split in their opinions about whether high inflation or the slowing job market is the bigger threat to the economy.

Treasury yields climbed in the bond market after a report on Tuesday showed that U.S. employers were advertising 7.7 million job openings at the end of October. That’s up a smidgen from the month before and the highest number since May.

If the job market is not worsening, it may not need as much help from the Fed through more cuts to rates.

After the report on job openings came out, the yield on the 10-year Treasury erased what had been an earlier dip and rose to 4.18% from 4.17% late Monday.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Fed will do, rose to 3.60% from 3.57% late Monday.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Exxon Mobil climbed 2% after increasing its forecast for profit over the next five years, thanks in part to strength for its fields in the Permian basin in the United States and off Guyana’s shore.

Ares Management rallied 7.3% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the investment company will join its widely followed S&P 500 index. It will replace Kellanova, the maker of Pringles and Pop-Tarts, which is being bought by Mars, the company behind Snickers and M&Ms.

CVS Health rose 2.2% after unveiling new financial forecasts, including expectations for annual compounded growth in earnings per share at a “mid-teens” percentage over the next three years.

Home Depot fell 1.3% after flipping between gains and losses. It gave a preliminary forecast for 2026 that said the broad home improvement market may shrink by up to 1%. But it also gave a separate set of forecasts saying its earnings per share could grow in the mid- to high-single digit percentages if the housing market recovers.

The market’s most influential stock, Nvidia, slipped 0.3% after President Donald Trump allowed it to sell an advanced chip used in artificial-intelligence technology to “approved customers” in China. The H200 is not Nvidia’s top product.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 6.00 points to 6,840.51. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 179.03 to 47,650.29, and the Nasdaq composite rose 30.58 to 23,576.49.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed Europe and Asia.

Indexes fell 1.3% in Hong Kong and 0.7% in Paris for two of the world’s bigger moves.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei and New York Dow indexes at a securities firm Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board at a securities firm Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Mohamed Salah's long goodbye to Liverpool begins on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup, the competition which represents his best chance of a trophy in his final year at Anfield.

The Egypt winger announced last week that he will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after nine years at a club where he has broken scoring records and established himself as one of the world's best players.

Salah potentially has 15 games left in the famous red shirt: Seven in the Premier League as well as three in the FA Cup and five in the Champions League, should Liverpool reach the final in both of those competitions.

That won't be easy.

In the Champions League, defending champion Paris Saint-Germain is up next in the two-leg quarterfinals and it's pretty much as tough in the FA Cup, with Liverpool handed an away match at Manchester City.

Salah, who has 255 goals in 435 appearances for Liverpool, missed the Reds' last game before the international break — a 2-1 loss at Brighton in the league — with a muscle injury but has told manager Arne Slot he should be healthy enough to return this weekend.

“He just does so much for his body for such a long time that he recovers so fast," Slot said on Wednesday. "So, he will train with the team again tomorrow and if everything works well then he’s available to be with us at City.”

The 33-year-old Salah was left out of the Liverpool team for four straight games at the end of 2025 in what appeared to be a breakdown in his relationship with Slot and the club.

Since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Salah virtually has been an ever-present in the lineup, seemingly winning the Dutch coach round.

“That hunger never drops,” Slot said of Salah. "It's the thing I find most special about him. So many good players around the world — he's definitely one of them in the last 10 years — and to show that hunger every three days, that professionalism, that commitment to the club and to the team, wanting to score again, always wanting to play ...

“When you take him out three minutes before the end, he's like, ‘Ah, maybe I could have scored one extra.’”

City, meanwhile, is seeking a domestic cup double after beating Arsenal in the English League Cup final on March 22. Pep Guardiola's team is also chasing Arsenal in the Premier League, which takes a break this weekend to give the FA Cup its own space in the calendar.

The other FA Cup quarterfinals take place across Saturday and Sunday.

After City-Liverpool in the early kickoff on Saturday, Chelsea hosts third-tier Port Vale — the lowest-ranked team left in the competition — before Arsenal visits second-tier Southampton.

On Sunday, West Ham hosts Leeds in an all-Premier League matchup.

Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has less than two months to persuade England coach Thomas Thomas he is worthy of a place in the World Cup squad.

Foden started both of England’s recent friendly games — a draw with Uruguay and a loss to Japan — but failed to impress either in the No. 10 role or as a “false nine," prompting Tuchel to say it's “ not a guarantee ” that Foden will be at the World Cup.

Foden was English soccer's player of the year in the 2023-24 season but has not maintained his top form and has rarely started for City in recent months.

Arsenal's team sheet for the Southampton game will be heavily scrutinized, given 10 players missed games for their national team over the international break because of various issues.

Eberechi Eze, Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard already had injuries that caused them to miss the League Cup final, before Piero Hincapie, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard all pulled out of international duty.

England's Noni Madueke and Spain's Martin Zubimendi missed the second games for their respective countries after reporting injuries.

There might be growing disharmony at Chelsea, going off recent comments by two of the team's best players.

Enzo Fernandez said after elimination in the Champions League that he couldn't guarantee being at Chelsea next season, while Marc Cucurella told The Athletic during this international break that the team was “more stable” under coach Enzo Maresca, who was fired in January, and, "If you asked me, I would not have made this decision.”

Liam Rosenior, the current Chelsea coach, is under big pressure after four straight defeats.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

England's Phil Foden holds the ball during the international friendly soccer match between England and Uruguay in London, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

FILE - Liverpool's manager Arne Slot talks to Mohamed Salah during the Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Tottenham in Liverpool, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)