Stocks close mostly higher as Fed meets

Stocks cut early losses and closed mostly higher Tuesday as the Federal Reserve began a two-day policy meeting to discuss the economy and interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 72.17 points, or 0.4%, to 18,110.14, after being down more than 100 points earlier in the session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 5.84 points, or 0.3%, to 2114.76 and was less than 3 points away from its record closing high of 2117.69.

The Nasdaq composite index dropped 4.82 points, or 0.2%, to 5055.42.

Most economists believe there's virtually no chance the Fed will hike rates Wednesday after stating last month that an April move was unlikely.

But investors will be scouring the central bank's post-meeting statement for clues as to whether a June liftoff remains a possibility.

Shares of Twitter (TWTR) were halted briefly after first-quarter results leaked before the closing bell, earlier than investors were expecting.

Once trading resumed, Twitter closed down 18% as the company reported revenue came in far below Wall Street estimates and issued disappointing guidance.

Earlier in the trading session, stocks fell on news that consumer confidence unexpectedly tumbled in April. Disappointing job growth more than offset still-low gasoline prices, the Conference Board's closely watched index of consumers' perceptions shows.

The index fell to 95.2 from 101.4 in March. That's the lowest reading so far this year and well below economists' estimate of 102.5.

Home prices climbed at a faster pace in February than the previous month, driven by higher sales and a limited supply of available houses.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5% in February from 12 months earlier, S&P said Tuesday. That is up from a 4.5 percent pace in January.

Among big movers in the Dow is Merck, which beat Wall Street estimates despite quarterly profit plunging 44%. Shares of drugmaker MRK rose 5%.

Ford shares fell 1% after F reported earnings fell almost 7% from the year-ago quarter.

JetBlue reported a $137 million profit, up from $4 million from the year-ago quarter. JBLU powered into a 6.7% ascent on the news.

Major European benchmarks got hammered as investors weighed Greece's impact on the regional economy. Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 1% while Germany's DAX tumbled 1.9%. France's CAC 40 closed down 1.8%.

Yet the ASE in Athens finished up 11.2% amid mounting hopes of a breakthrough in the country's discussions with its European creditors.

Britain's economic growth slowed to a quarterly rate of 0.3% in the first three months of this year, the country's Office of National Statistics said. The figure represents a slowdown from 0.6% growth in the last quarter of 2014.

Asian stock markets were mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose a fractional 0.03%. The Shanghai Composite fell 1%.

Stocks began the week lower Monday as the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 retreated from record territory.

Contributing: Associated Press.