Dow Slumps As Wall Street Focuses On Earnings; Fed Ahead

The U.S. stock market opened lower on Monday to start a week packed with corporate earnings releases and a midweek meeting of the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 0.2% lower at 21,542, the S&P 500 index was off about 0.2% at 2,468. The Nasdaq Composite Index , meanwhile, was trading flat at 6,388. Wall Street investors were paying attention to weakness in the dollar , and conversely strength in the euro . A weaker dollar tends to give a boost to multinational companies selling goods and services abroad, while a strengthening euro can provide a headwind to European companies selling outside of the eurozone. Market participants also watched a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for signs of any further moves to limit a glut of crude oil, which has weighed on futures prices . In corporate news, the market was watching the tumble in Hibbett Sports Inc. , which was on track for its steepest daily stock drop in 18 years after the sports retailer said it expected second-quarter sales to slump. Also, Shares of WebMD Health Corp. soared on news that KKR & Co. was looking to take the health-care information company private. Looking ahead, Google-parent Alphabet Inc. is set to report after the close of trade on Monday. Further out, the Fed kicks off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with the central bank not expected to lift interest rates further, but clues about its policy plans and the state of the U.S. economy will be closely tracked in its updated statement. In economic news, the IHS Markit services PMI unchanged at 54.2 in July, while on manufacturing came in at 53.2 in July from 52.0 in the previous month. A reading above 50 indicates economic growth.

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