Stocks Edge Up Ahead of Fed Interest Rate Announcement

On the upside

Shares of Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) rose after the semiconductor equipment maker posted lower revenues and a small loss that beat expectations.

Macy's (NYSE: M) reported a small 2nd profit due to one-time restructuring costs and raised its full-year earnings guidance.

E-House China (NYSE: EJ), a China-based real estate holding company, posted higher revenues and earnings as the total value of new properties sold nearly tripled to $3 billion. 

On the downside

Clearwire (Nasdaq: CLWR) posted a smaller 2nd quarter loss as the wireless broadband provider added subscribers.

Freight business remained weak for Celadon Group (Nasdaq: CLDN) which reported a sharp drop in quarterly profits.

Shares of China-based Mindray Medical International (NYSE: MR) gave up recent gains after reporting a strong quarter.  The company manufactures a wide range of medical monitoring and analytical equipment.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks rose a fraction to 562.