New York — A set of strong US earnings reports sent the S&P 500 stock index to a record high on Tuesday, while the dollar held at its lowest since June 2016 ahead of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting. Oil prices rose more than 2%, extended their recovery on a pledge by top Opec producer Saudi Arabia to cut exports in August to help reduce a global crude glut. The Fed beings its meeting on Tuesday to discuss its monetary policy stance and the timing of a long-awaited balance sheet reduction, a plan seen as likely to be detailed in September. No change to US interest rates was expected. There is a growing sense that the Fed will want to tread carefully amid signs of subdued US inflation, and markets were reflecting that. They were also influenced by strong German economic data and Greece’s first return to capital markets since 2014. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, earlier hit its lowest level since June 2016 at 93.638. It has falle...
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