U.S. stocks are falling as investors await Fed's June minutes

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Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were falling as investors awaited the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting.

At 9:39 ET (13:39 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 140 points or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.2%.

Investors await Fed minutes

The Fed will release the minutes of its June meeting this afternoon, giving investors a chance to hunt for clues on the central bank’s monetary path as it heads into its next meeting this month.

The Fed paused on hikes in June but indicated more hikes were coming this year. Futures traders are giving an 88% probability of a quarter of a percentage point increase in July. They are also giving a 33% probability that another increase will come in November.

Economic data this week includes factory orders, private payrolls and job openings and the comprehensive job report for June, which is due out on Friday.

Chip stocks hit by China’s export controls

Chip stocks were falling after China put export controls on key metals used in the industry, raising tensions with the U.S. over access to the sensitive technology. Shares of Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) were down 1.1%, and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was down 1.5%.

The main stock indexes in the U.S. started off the second half of the year on a positive note, lifted by record deliveries posted by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) for the second quarter.

Tech stocks jumped in the first half of the year, boosted by enthusiasm for all things related to artificial intelligence, leading the Nasdaq to a 32% year-to-date increase. The S&P had its best first half since before the pandemic, rising 16%.

Pharmaceuticals in focus

AstraZeneca PLC ADR (NASDAQ:AZN) regained some of the ground it lost on Monday after disappointing results from a trial of its lung cancer treatment, rising 2.4%.

Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) rose 4.9% after it struck an agreement to develop its messenger-RNA medicines for China’s market.

Oil was rising.Crude Oil WTI Futures jumped 2.6% to $71.67 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude rose 0.3% to $76.47 a barrel. Gold Futures were up 0.3% to $1932.