Stock market today: Live updates

Stocks were mixed Wednesday as traders prepared for a much-anticipated monetary policy decision and an even more important policy outlook from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 shed 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average outperformed, climbing 254 points, or 0.5%.

Nvidia shares dipped more than 1% after The Financial Times reported, citing sources, that China has banned tech companies in the country from buying Nvidia’s chips.

Traders almost universally expect the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates on Wednesday, a move that could boost the U.S. economy amid signs the labor market is slowing even as inflation stays stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target. Policymakers will also give more insight into their outlook for rates over the next year or so in the closely-watched “dot plot” grid that accompanies their quarterly Summary of Economic Projections.

Investors will also watch for any policy dissents from Fed policymakers after two such disagreements at the last meeting in July. Traders have priced in a 96% chance that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points, or a quarter percentage point, and just 4% odds that the market will get a half point reduction Wednesday, per the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Any outlook from the Fed “sits on shifting sands,” said Thierry Wizman, Macquarie Group’s global foreign exchange and rates strategist.

“In a nod to data that suggests that U.S.-based firms are growing reluctant to hire, the Fed will cut its policy rate by -25bs this week. But to the FOMC’s extant hawks, Fed policy doesn’t present as being tight. And so Jay Powell will offer balance,” Wizman said, adding that he expects Powell to highlight the downside risk to employment growth but hold back from signaling several cuts after September.

Stocks are coming off of a lackluster trading session, where major U.S. indexes ended little changed.