By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks recovered the previous day's losses on Tuesday after earnings from Pfizer and others gave the market support, but Mosaic and other potash producers tumbled on expectation of a global price decline.
Volume could be subdued before the Fed statement on Wednesday at the end of a two-day policy meeting. The Fed's Open Market Committee's statement will be combed for hints of when the central bank may begin to scale back its $85 billion a month in asset purchases aimed at stimulating the economy.
Pfizer rose 1.9 percent to $30.09 after it reported second-quarter earnings slightly ahead of estimates as it lines up a business split that could lead to the spinoff of its generics division.
"Earnings are being consistent with what the market has been expecting and we are on Fed watch, so we'll probably have a range-bound market, possibly regaining yesterday's losses," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
Besides the Fed statement, investors are bracing for Friday's payrolls report as it may decide the Fed's next move, he said. Non-farm payrolls are expected to have risen 184,000 in July, according to a Reuters survey.
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Shares of Mosaic Co tumbled 23 percent to $40.70 after Russia's Uralkali dismantled one of the world's largest potash partnerships by pulling out of a venture with its partner in Belarus, a move it expects will cause global prices to plunge by 25 percent.
Intrepid Potash shares plunged 31 percent to $13.39 while U.S-traded shares of Potash Corp fell 23 percent to $29.31 and Agrium lost 7.8 percent to $84.29.
The S&P materials index <.SPLRCM> was the worst performing of the top ten industry groups, down 1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 49.3 points or 0.32 percent, to 15,571.27, the S&P 500 gained 5.77 points or 0.34 percent, to 1,691.1 and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.67 points or 0.46 percent, to 3,615.81.
With results in from more than half of the S&P 500 companies, 67.2 percent have beaten earnings expectations - in line with the 67 percent average beat over the last four quarters. About 56 percent of the companies have beaten revenue expectations, more than the 48 percent of revenue beats in the past four earnings seasons, Thomson Reuters data showed.
Coach Inc shares dropped 8.8 percent to $52.77 after the leather goods maker reported soft sales at its North American stores and announced the departures of two more executives.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber jumped 13.6 percent to a near five-year high of $19.21 after its quarterly profit more than doubled due to lower raw material costs and stabilizing sales in Europe.
Mobile service provider Sprint Corp posted a wider quarterly loss on costs from shutting down its Nextel network, but revenue grew as customers spent more on wireless services. Shares rose 4.2 percent to $5.98.
Herbalife shares rose 7.4 percent to $65.04 a day after the nutritional products company said its better than-expected earnings and rosy 2013 outlook were driven by a fast-growing global distributor network and strong demand for its weight-loss shakes and supplements.
Equities and futures barely reacted to data showing a smaller than expected increase in home prices in May and a gauge of consumer confidence that came in slightly below expectations.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)