NEW YORK — Stocks slipped Tuesday afternoon after several U.S. companies delivered disappointing results and forecasts. Energy companies fell more than the rest of the market as the price of crude oil hit two-month lows.
The market made only small moves as the Federal Reserve started a two-day meeting to discuss interest rates. The market has paused this week following an October rally that wiped out much of the losses from a late-summer plunge.
Investors are still concerned about the slow pace of the economic recovery in the U.S. and are wondering how the economy and the market will react when interest rates eventually start to rise.
Few expect the Fed to raise interest rates this year. And while ultra-low rates tend to be favorable for stocks and bonds, many investors would like to see the uncertainty over interest rate policy resolved.
“We don’t think there’s going to be enough evidence between now and the end of the year to support a move by the Fed,” said Patrick Maldari, a senior fixed income investment specialist at Aberdeen Asset Management. “They just have not had the ammunition. The economic data continues to be weak.”
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 41.62 points, or 0.24 percent, to 17,581.43. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 5.29 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,065.89. The Nasdaq composite declined 4.56 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,030.15.
The price of U.S. oil fell almost 2 percent and reached its lowest level since the market turmoil of late August. Oil prices had recovered some of their losses from this summer as companies cut back on production.
Energy analyst Jim Ritterbusch said a recent increase in oil stockpiles, the result of decreased refining production, has sent oil prices back down. Ritterbusch says he thinks crude will slip back to its August lows of about $38 a barrel and stay there through the end of 2015.
Energy stocks declined along with the price of oil. Chesapeake Energy fell 41 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $6.72, while Marathon Oil was down 48 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $17.11 and Anadarko Petroleum lost $3.71, or 5.4 percent, to $65.29.
Earnings continued to pour in after the close of regular trading. Apple’s results were stronger than expected, and the tech giant said it expects to surpass last year’s record of 74.5 million iPhones sold in the December quarter. The stock rose $3.21, or 2.8 percent, to $117.76 in late trading.
