Dow Jones Industrial Average Today Flat As Tech Stocks Tumble

Dow Jones Industrial Average News, 4/26/16: On Tuesday, it was another tough day for tech stocks.

Three big momentum stocks, Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), and Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) all fell more than 1.1% on the day and continue to reverse course from last year's double-digit performances. The downturn in tech stocks overshadowed news that the Federal Reserve had kicked off its April meeting to discuss monetary policy.

Now, let's discuss what you need to know about the markets on April 26, 2016.

First up, check out the results for the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Dow Jones: 17,989.09; +11.85; 0.07%                                

S&P 500: 2,091.68; +3.89; 0.19%   

Nasdaq: 4,888.31; -7.48; -0.15%

Now, here's the top stock market news today…

DJIA Today: FANG Stocks in Focus on Busy Day of Earnings Reports

The U.S. Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting today. Though the Federal Reserve isn't expected to boost interest rates until June, tomorrow's policy statement will be critical as traders seek clues about the timing of the next rate hike. Traders will also look for the central bank's reaction to a string of bad economic data, primarily in the housing and manufacturing sectors.

On the economic front, demand for domestic manufactured goods increased far less than economists anticipated, raising new concerns about the health of the U.S. manufacturing sector. That report complemented a worsened figure for consumer confidence and may indicate the U.S. economy is growing at a much slower pace than economists expected.

After yesterday's weak housing report, traders were looking for some solace in today's release of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. According to the Index, home prices increased 0.2% in the three months ended February. Year-over-year home prices are up 5.4%.

Oil prices rallied on Tuesday thanks to increased optimism on supply-demand fundamentals and a weakening dollar. WTI crude prices added 3.2%, while Brent crude added 2.9%.

The oil rout over the last year-and-a-half has claimed a major victim: The sterling AAA-credit rating of multinational oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM). Standard & Poor's took away the firm's perfect rating while citing Exxon's large amounts of debt and the expectations of sustained lower commodity prices. XOM stock was still up on the day by roughly 0.4%

Exxon isn't the only victim of declining energy prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration conducted an analysis of 40 publicly traded domestic producers over the last year. The agency determined that U.S. energy producers lost a $67 billion due to falling crude prices.

Now, let's look at the day's biggest stock movers and the stock of the day.

Top Stock Market News Today

• After the bell, keep an eye on Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) when the firm reports its quarterly earnings results. Today, the technology giant is expected to report its first decline in revenue since fall 2003. The numbers on iPhone sales are expected to be very bad. Consensus expectations call for the firm to have sold just 50 million units. That's down from 61 million during the same period in 2015.
• Shares of Twitter Inc. (Nasdaq: TWTR) rallied more than 3% as the company prepares to release quarterly earnings after the bell. The stock is on track to reach a seven-week high.
• After the bell, also keep an eye out for quarterly reports from Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), Panera Bread Co. (Nasdaq: PNRA), AT&T Inc.(NYSE: T), and eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY).
• Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) were up marginally as Wall Street continues to digest the stunning announcement by the company that it will begin taking online deposits from customers. For as little as $1, new clients can open new online savings accounts as the firm attempts to diversify its sources of funding and appease regulatory agencies. Before the financial crisis, the very idea that Goldman would even entertain this plan was almost impossible.
• Shares of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (NYSE: DD) rallied more than 2% after the firm announced plans to buy back at least $2 billion in company stock this year.