LIVE MARKETS-US stocks subdued in early trade ahead of Fed, big earnings

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U.S. STOCKS SUBDUED IN EARLY TRADE AHEAD OF FED, BIG EARNINGS

U.S. stocks are mixed in the early stages of trading on Wednesday, with each of the three major U.S. indexes showing modest moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy announcement this afternoon and several major earnings announcement after the close.

The Fed is widely expected to keep rates unchanged with its statement scheduled for 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT) on Wednesday, as it seeks further clarity on the economic impact of President Donald's Trump's policies and awaits more inflation data before deciding another rate cut is needed.

The Nasdaq .IXIC is the weakest of the three, weighed down once again by tech .SPLRCT shares in what has been a volatile week for the sector in the wake of the DeepSeek artificial intelligence tool development earlier in the week.

After the close, investors will eye earnings from heavyweights META.O, Microsoft MSFT.O and Tesla TSLA.O. Investors will look for signs Microsoft's AI investments are starting to bear fruit and if its Azure cloud business rebuild is successful.

Below is your early market snapshot:

(Chuck Mikolajczak)

FOR WEDNESDAY'S EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS:

BENCHMARK TREASURY YIELD ON THE BACK FOOT AHEAD OF THE FED - CLICK HERE

US STOCK ROTATION OR RECESSION? IT MATTERS FOR THE DOLLAR - CLICK HERE

IN FAVOUR OF A HIGHER US NEUTRAL RATE - CLICK HERE

EURO AREA GROWTH: ITALIAN EXCEPTIONALISM IS OVER - BOFA - CLICK HERE

TECH STRIKES BACK, LUXURY GOES BACK - CLICK HERE

BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPEAN FUTURES RISE, ASML POPS - CLICK HERE

TECH NERVES SETTLE JUST IN TIME FOR MAG 7 EARNINGS - CLICK HERE