Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, April 26:
1. Fed kicks off 2-day policy meeting
The Federal Reserve begins its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday. The U.S. central bank is not expected to take action on interest rates, but traders will be looking for its take on the global economy and its monetary policy outlook.
Many in the market anticipate the pace of increases to be gradual amid concerns over global economic growth and divergent monetary policies between the U.S. and other nations.
2. Apple reports Q2 earnings after the closing bell
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is due with its fiscal second quarter results in after-hours trade Tuesday. The iPhone maker is expected to report earnings fell to $1.97 from $2.33 per share, on revenue of $51.5 billion, down from $58 billion, according to Estimize, in what would be the firm's first on-year sales drop in 13 years.
Other companies reporting earnings Tuesday include, Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), 3M Company (NYSE:MMM), DuPont (NYSE:DD), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), AT&T (NYSE:T), eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG), Panera Bread (NASDAQ:PNRA), Buffalo Wild Wings Inc (NASDAQ:BWLD), Coach Inc (NYSE:COH), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc (NYSE:FCX).
3. BP profit drops 80% but still beats expectations
British energy giant BP PLC (LON:BP) reported a pretax loss of $865 million in the first quarter of 2016 as low oil prices continue to plague the company.
First-quarter replacement cost loss came in at $485 million, compared with a profit of $2.1 billion a year ago. The replacement cost loss came in well above expectations of $140 million in a poll of analysts provided by the company.
In a statement accompanying the results, BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley said that despite the challenging environment, the company was "driving towards our near-term goal of rebalancing BP's cash flows”.
4. Mitsubishi Motors tumbles 10% as scandal widens
Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (T:7211) said it had used fuel economy testing methods that were not compliant with Japanese regulations for 25 years, much longer than previously known, and would set up an external committee to investigate the matter.
Japan's sixth-largest automaker has lost half of its market value - some $3.9 billion - since it admitted last week that it overstated the fuel economy of four domestic minivehicle models.
5. Dollar retreats ahead of central bank meetings
The dollar retreated against the yen and most of the other major currencies on Tuesday, as investors braced for central bank policy meetings in the U.S. and Japan this week.
USD/JPY hit lows of 110.67 and was last at 110.83 by 9:58GMT, or 5:58AM ET, off 0.3% for the day. The Bank of Japan is to wrap up its two-day policy meeting on Thursday and in recent days expectations for more easing have mounted.
Meanwhile, the British pound was at 10-week highs against the dollar as concerns over a British exit from the European Union, or Brexit, abated.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell to 94.42 in early trade. It last stood at 94.53, down 0.22% for the day.