S&P 500 slips from record as investors take some money off the table ahead of Fed decision: Live updates

Stocks edged lower on Tuesday as investors took in profits and looked to a highly-awaited Federal Reserve meeting.

The S&P 500 traded 0.1% lower, after hitting a fresh record earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite hovered near the flatline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 185 points, or 0.4%.

Key bull market leaders declined, with shares of Nvidia down more than 1.5%. Palantir, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet also edged lower.

The two-day Fed meeting, which kicked off on Tuesday, is expected to result in a rate cut for the first time since December. Fed funds futures pricing in a 100% likelihood of at least a quarter-point rate cut, per CME’s FedWatch tool.

Traders will still closely monitor Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s subsequent press conference for any clues on the future of monetary policy, as uncertainty remains on whether more rate cuts will occur in upcoming meetings this and next year. The meeting comes after the Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to join the central bank, Stephen Miran.

“Although labor demand is softening, labor supply issues continue to offset the weakness, and recession risks remain limited for now,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. “Any decision to cut by 50 basis points at this stage would appear to be driven more by political pressure than economic necessity. A more measured 25 basis point cut remains the appropriate response, allowing the Fed to get ahead of a slowdown without overreacting to early signs of strain.”

Traders continue to monitor developments on global trade discussions and so-called reciprocal tariffs set to take effect in November.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that he expects further talks to happen before that deadline, and that “the Chinese now sense that a trade deal is possible” after U.S. and Chinese officials concluded two days of talks on Monday. President Donald Trump also gave a positive description of the trade discussions on Monday, which led U.S. stocks to rally and pushed the S&P 500 to close above 6,600 for the first time.

During their talks this week, U.S. and Chinese officials during reached a “framework” agreement on TikTok to allow the social media app to keep operating in the U.S. Sources confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday that Oracle will be among the firms enabling TikTok, which led the stock marginally higher on Tuesday.

To be sure, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Monday that broader trade discussions had been “deferred” to another time given the intense focus on reaching a deal regarding TikTok.