By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday with just hours to go until the Federal Reserve's announcement on interest rates and a press conference featuring Chair Jerome Powell.
At 10:23 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 25 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 1.1%.
Stocks have been wobbling around ahead of the Fed meeting, when policy makers are expected to raise rates by a half-point as they try to battle inflation. Investors are hoping the statement provides insight on how aggressive the Fed will be in the next few months as it works to achieve a soft landing and avoid tipping the economy into a recession.
Wednesday's economic data included the ADP jobs report, which said the economy added 247,000 private sector jobs last month. That was below expectations for 390,000 jobs. On Friday, the government's broader assessment of the job market is expected to show an increase of 400,000 nonfarm jobs.
Crude oil jumped 4% on Wednesday after the European Union proposed a ban on Russian oil imports. That sent Crude Oil WTI Futuresto $106.53 a barrel and Brent Oil Futures to $108.91.
Shares of Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) tumbled 30% after saying Tuesday night it would spend more money on trying to coax back drivers. High gasoline prices and an increase of riders have outpaced how many drivers the ride-hailing company has brought back, pressuring fares. Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) shares fell 11% on Wednesday after beating expectations but taking a $5.9 billion loss on investments in Southeast Asian companies Grab Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:GRAB), Aurora and Didi Global Inc ADR (NYSE:DIDI).
Gold Futures fell 0.1% to $1867 an ounce.