Stocks hold steady as Fed confers

Stocks largely held in place Tuesday as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will say Wednesday about where interest rates are heading.

- By Stan CHOE

The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged down 6.00 points, or 0.1%, to 6,840.51 and remained near its all-time high set in October. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 179.03 points, or 0.4%, to 47,650.29 and the Nasdaq composite rose 30.58 points, or 0.1%, to 23,576.49.

JPMorgan Chase was the heaviest weight on the market after a top executive, Marianne Lake, said the bank’s expenses could rise to $105 billion next year.

That would be up 9% from an estimated $95.9 billion in expenses this year, though Lake also said JP Morgan Chase is “feeling pretty good about the underlying financial health of the borrowers in our portfolio.” Its stock fell 4.7%.

Another drop came from Toll Bros., which lost 2.4% after the home builder reported weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Chief Executive Douglas Yearley Jr. said demand for new homes remains soft across many markets, and he talked about “affordability pressures” that could be affecting potential home buyers.