A very strong housing report triggered fears that the Fed might raise rates after all on this, the first day of the two-day July meeting, and that in turn, just like yesterday, sent the Dow diving right out the gate though, due to more positive Q2 reports, the index recovered to close down just 19 points.  Investors still expect companies to do better in Q2 than has been forecast.  At 6.5 billion, volume was a little closer to recent averages than it has been.

Markets | Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:22pm EDT

Wall St. mixed, Apple impresses and Twitter disappoints

BY NOEL RANDEWICH

DJ: 18,473.75  -19.31       NAS: 5,110.05  +12.42       S&P: 2,169.18  +0.70 

(Reuters)  U.S. stocks were mixed on Tuesday as Federal Reserve policymakers kicked off a two-day interest rate meeting and investors braced for quarterly scorecards from Apple and Twitter.  Choppy stock trading followed a recent rally to consecutive record highs on the S&P 500 that has stretched price-to-earnings multiples to levels that some investors say presumes that companies will beat second-quarter estimates.

Five of the 10 major S&P sectors rose, while a 1.49 percent drop in the telecom services index .SPLRCL weighed heavily. Verizon Communications (VZ.N) fell 1.9 percent after subscriber numbers fell below estimates.

Caterpillar's (CAT.N) shares jumped 5.16 percent to touch a year high after quarterly earnings beat expectations.

The Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting and while it is not expected to raise U.S. interest rates, investors will be watching for hints about when the U.S. central bank might make a move.

A set of strong economic data, including Tuesday's housing report, could strengthen the case for the Fed to raise rates earlier than the market anticipates.

"The real thing I'm going to be looking for is, is there a tip of the hat to a potential rate increase in September?," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dipped 0.1 percent to end at 18,473.75 and the S&P 500 .SPX edged up 0.03 percent to 2,169.18 after spending much of the day at a loss. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 0.24 percent to 5,110.05.

After investors shrugged off Britain's unexpected vote in late June to leave the European Union, the S&P 500 rallied and is up 6 percent year to date.

Almost a third of the way into second-quarter reports, S&P 500 companies overall are expected to see earnings dip 3.5 percent, not as bad as the 4.5 percent dip predicted at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of Apple (AAPL.O), the world's largest publicly traded company, dipped 0.69 percent ahead of its quarterly report after the bell.

In extended trade, Apple surged 4 percent after the company reported more iPhone sales than expected for the June quarter.

Twitter (TWTR.N) slumped 9 percent after the social network reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public in 2013.

Earlier, McDonald's (MCD.N) sank 4.46 percent after reporting worse-than-expected quarterly sales at established U.S. restaurants. The stock weighed the most on the Dow.

Texas Instruments (TXN.O) jumped 7.85 percent after its current-quarter forecast beat analysts' estimates. The stock provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.58-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.62-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 53 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 119 new highs and 25 new lows.

About 6.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the nearly 6.8 billion daily average over the past 20 sessions.