Financial Markets                      09/17 09:38

   

   NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street is stuck on pause Wednesday as it waits to hear 
from the Federal Reserve in the afternoon, when it's expected to deliver the 
first cut to interest rates of the year.

   The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged and was drifting near its record set on 
Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 211 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:35 
a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.

   Workday helped lead the market with a gain of 6.9% after Elliott Investment 
Management said it's built a stake of more than $2 billion in it and supports 
its management. The company, which helps customers manage their finances and 
human resources, recently increased its program to send cash to investors 
through purchases of its stock by up to $4 billion.

   That helped offset a 1.9% drop for General Mills. The food giant reported a 
better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, but its revenue 
only roughly matched forecasts. It also said it expects investments it's making 
in brands to drive growth, such as Blue Buffalo's launch into fresh pet food, 
will knock its profit lower in its upcoming fiscal year.

   The main event on Wall Street, though, is coming later in the afternoon when 
the Fed will announce its latest decision on interest rates. The decision 
itself will likely be an afterthought because most traders and economists 
expect it to cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point.

   What's more important will be what Fed officials say about the probability 
of more cuts. The widespread expectation is that it will keep lowering rates 
through this year and into next in order to prop up the slowing job market.

   Reports are suggesting that it's become more difficult for people to find a 
job, which could be forcing the Fed to see it as the bigger problem for the 
economy than the threat of higher inflation. The Fed has been keeping rates on 
hold so far this year because lower rates can push inflation higher, and it's 
been worried about how much President Donald Trump's tariffs will push up 
prices across the economy. Inflation has so far refused to go back below the 
Fed's 2% target.

   Stocks have run to records on such expectations for easier interest rates. 
That in turn raises the possibility of disappointment for Wall Street if Fed 
Chair Jerome Powell hints at fewer cuts coming than everyone expects. Fed 
officials will also be releasing their projections for where they see interest 
rates and inflation heading in upcoming years.

   On Wall Street, RCI Hospitality Holdings dropped 10.2% after New York's 
attorney general accused executives of bribery and other crimes for trying 
avoid paying millions of dollars in sales taxes. RCI owns strip clubs and 
sports bars across the country, including Rick's Cabaret.

   Later in the day, the online ticket marketplace StubHub will see its stock 
trade on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time. Its stock will trade 
under the symbol "STUB" and sold at its initial public offering for a price of 
$23.50 per share.

   In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

   Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% from its record after data showed Japan's 
exports to the U.S. dropped 13.8% in August from a year earlier, as auto 
exports were hit by Trump's tariffs.

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.02% from 
4.04% late Tuesday.

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   AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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