(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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Indexes: Dow up 0.53%, S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq down 0.38%

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Fed's monetary policy announcement due at 2 pm ET

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Uber ( UBER ) falls after Q1 revenue misses estimates

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Disney ( DIS ) shines as earnings top expectations

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Charles River up after settlement with activist investor

Elliott

(Updates with late-morning trading)

By Purvi Agarwal and Johann M Cherian

May 7 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock indexes were mixed on Wednesday ahead of the

Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision, while a steep decline

in shares of Google-parent Alphabet weighed on the Nasdaq.

The focus is on the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is

widely expected to hold interest rates steady when it announces

its policy decision later in the day.

Traders are now roughly pricing in a rate cut by July,

according to data compiled by LSEG, after a mixed-bag of

earnings last week signaled a slowing U.S. economy and resilient

labor market.

Commentary from policymakers will be scrutinized for

clues on how they plan to approach monetary policy easing this

year, given the backdrop of President Donald Trump's criticism

of the central bank and an uncertain trade environment.

"At the moment, the U.S. labor market is still strong

and healthy... the Fed really has a lot of reasons to indicate

that they are not likely to cut rates in the near term," said

Nicholas Brooks, head of economic and investment research at

ICG.

At 11:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 214.58 points, or 0.53%, to 41,043.58, the S&P 500

gained 3.59 points, or 0.06%, to 5,610.50, and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 67.29 points, or 0.38%, to 17,622.37.

A 6.4% fall in

Alphabet's

shares dragged on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, while

the communication services sector weighed on the

benchmark S&P 500.

A report said iPhone-maker Apple ( AAPL ) was exploring

the option of adding artificial-intelligence search options to

its web browser, citing an executive. Apple's ( AAPL ) shares were

trading at nearly two-week lows.

On the flip side, a 10.5% jump in Walt Disney's ( DIS )

stock after the streaming firm's quarterly results

topped Street expectations boosted the Dow.

The three main indexes were higher in early morning

trading, a day after Washington announced that representatives

of the two countries would meet over the weekend in Switzerland

for ice-breaker trade discussions following weeks of tit-for-tat

tariffs between the United States and China.

The Trump administration has said potential deals with major

trading partners are underway, but the markets are yet to see

tangible results on that front.

"What markets really want to see is tariffs removed as

quickly as possible on both sides... the longer this disruption

and uncertainty continues, the more economic damage we'll see,"

Brooks said.

Wall Street ended lower for the second straight session on

Tuesday, but all three indexes have recouped declines logged

since Trump's announcement of "Liberation Day" reciprocal

tariffs on April 2.

Uber ( UBER ) dropped 2.2% as the ride-hailing company

missed quarterly revenue

expectations.

CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) dropped 3.8%. The cybersecurity

company

reiterated

its fiscal 2025 and 2026 forecasts and announced a plan to

cut jobs.

Contract research firm Charles River Laboratories ( CRL )

shot up 14.7% after it said it had

reached an agreement

with activist investor Elliott Investment Management and

raised its 2025 earnings forecast.

Arista Networks ( ANET ) fell 7% after its quarterly

results.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.92-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.24-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and eight new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 40 new highs and 66

new lows.