Stock Market Today: April Ends on Sour Note Ahead of Fed Decision

U.S. stocks tumbled to close out a dispiriting April for investors, ending the worst month of the year so far for equities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 570 points, while the S&P 500 was down 1.6%, snapping a five-month winning streak. The Nasdaq also ended the day lower by 2%.

A pair of concerning economic reports led markets into the red, including a reading of consumer confidence hitting its lowest level in nearly two years. Meanwhile, the cost of labor for U.S. companies — namely, wages — rose faster than economists were expecting. While higher wages are obviously good news for American workers, it's also an inflationary pressure that could affect the Federal Reserve's timeline for cutting interest rates.

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Investors will get an update on how the Fed is responding to all the data pointing to stickier-than-expected inflation when the central bank concludes its two-day policy meeting Wednesday.

Among the notable earnings reports for Tuesday were McDonald's, where profits slipped 0.2% after its profit for the latest quarter came up just shy of analysts' expectations. It was hurt by weakening sales trends at its franchised stores overseas, in part by boycotts from Muslim-majority markets over the company's perceived support of Israel, according to the Associated Press.

Eli Lilly also reported another blockbuster quarter on the back of its weight-loss drug Zepbound, which competes with Novo Nordisk's Ozempic. The pharma giant raised its guidance for the year while reassuring investors it has enough of the drug to meet sky-high demand. Shares ended the day higher by 6 percent, and are up more than 90 percent over the last year.

Another big mover was Stellantis, the multinational auto conglomerate that owns Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge. The company said first-quarter profits declined 12 percent, but called it a "transitional period" and vowed to continue plowing investment into electric vehicles, including plans to launch some 18 EV models this year around the world. The stock was still down more than 10 percent on the day.

Amazon, Starbucks and chipmaker AMD were set to report quarterly results after the bell.

Meanwhile, pot stocks got a boost after the Associated Press reported that the Biden administration was set to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug, a move that will have wide-ranging implications for the nascent cannabis industry. Tilray and Canopy Growth, two of the biggest publicly traded pot stocks, were up 40 and 75 percent, respectively.

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Wall Street is looking to May to revive a bull run that ran out of steam in recent weeks. In addition to clues from the Fed on Wednesday, another round of earnings and the monthly jobs numbers will round out the week.

Earnings Highlights To Watch This Week

• Wednesday: Mastercard, Pfizer, CVS, Marriott, DoorDash, The Kraft Heinz Company, Pizza Hut and KFC parent Yum! Brands, eBay
• Thursday: Apple, pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, Shell, Moderna
• Friday: Berkshire Hathaway, AMC