Tech earnings; Fed rate decision; China trade talks

CEO Tim Cook blamed sales decline on a mix of factors, including a slowdown in China, foreign exchange rates, a popular battery replacement program and reduced smartphone subsidies from carriers.

The shrinking iPhone sales led to Apple's first holiday quarter revenue decline since 2000. And Luca Maestri, Apple's CFO, told analysts that the company expects some of the factors highlighted by Cook to continue "affecting iPhone performance" in the current quarter.

Still, the earnings were slightly better than the company had warned investors to expect earlier this month, and Apple (AAPL) stock gained 5% in extended trading.

More tech earnings are slated for Wednesday. Alibaba (BABA) is scheduled to report before the opening bell and investors will be watching for more clues on the health of the Chinese economy.

Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB) and Tesla (TSLA) will publish their numbers after the markets close.

Shares in LVMH (LVMHF), the owner of brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton, shot up almost 7% early on Wednesday. The luxury group reported strong results on Tuesday, despite worries that slower growth in China could hit its sales.

2. Fed decision: The Federal Reserve will announce its first monetary policy decision of the year Wednesday. The central bank is expected to hold the rates steady.

Financial markets swung wildly late last year due in part to fears the Fed is raising interest rates too rapidly in the face of risks to the economy.

Chairman Jerome Powell is holding a press conference at 2 p.m. ET and analysts will be listening closely to see whether he reiterates that the bank will be "patient" about future rate hikes. That would signal no rate hike for at least the next two meetings, according to HSBC.

Another thing to watch is the Fed's willingness to slow or even halt the process of unloading some of the bonds it bought to reduce long-term rates. Some investors believe the Fed's shrinking balance sheet is contributing to market turbulence.

Complicating the bank's work is the fact that economic reports due out this week may be delayed because of the recent US government shutdown.

Fourth quarter GDP is scheduled for Wednesday and a report on personal income and outlays is due out Thursday. But employees may not have time to finish collecting and analyzing the data to hit those publishing deadlines.

Watch CNNMoney's 'Markets Now' at 12:45 p.m. ET

3. Trade talks resume: Representatives of China and the US administration are set to meet in Washington on Wednesday to try to defuse the trade war that began last year.

Tariffs on hundreds of billions of goods traded between the world's two biggest economies have hurt businesses, roiled financial markets and contributed to fears about a global slowdown.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed a truce last month, and their governments are trying to negotiate a more lasting deal to end the hostilities.

The new talks take place against the backdrop of rising tension between Washington and Beijing over Chinese telecoms company Huawei, the global leader in 5G technology. The United States on Tuesday formally requested the extradition of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou from Canada on charges of helping the company dodge sanctions on Iran.

The US Department of Justice revealed a series of criminal charges against Huawei earlier this week, including the theft of trade secrets. Huawei, which denies the accusations, has become a potent symbol of the growing rivalry between the United States and China to decide who will become the world's leading technology superpower.

4. Ghosn speaks out: Former autos legend Carlos Ghosn says he was the victim of a plot by Nissan executives to oust him. In an interview with Japan's Nikkei — his first since he was arrested in Tokyo in November — the former chairman of Nissan and Renault said charges leveled against him were the result of "plot and treason."

Ghosn has been indicted in Japan on charges that include understating his income in Japanese securities filings by tens of millions of dollars over an eight-year period. He denies the allegations.

Nissan (NSANF) and Mitsubishi Motors (MSBHY) both fired Ghosn, one of the auto industry's most prominent figures, as chairman soon after his arrest in November. He resigned as chairman and CEO of France's Renault (RNLSY) last week after the French government withdrew its support for him.

5. Global market overview: US stock futures were pointing higher early on Wednesday, while stocks in Europe and Asia were struggling to find direction.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.2% on Tuesday. The S&P 500 was down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq was down 0.8%.

The British pound was jittery overnight on the growing risk that the United Kingdom may leave the European Union in less than two months time without an agreement to protect vital trading links.

The UK parliament on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Theresa May to reopen negotiations on a Brexit divorce deal with the European Union. EU officials repeated that the deal — agreed by all 27 EU members and May — was not open for renegotiation.

"A hard Brexit is the default option unless a deal or delay is secured before Brexit day on 29 March 2019," said Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg. "With only 58 days left until the UK is due to leave the EU, we raise the risk of a no-deal from 20% to 30%," he added.

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6. Earnings and economics: AT&T (T), Boeing (BA), McDonald's (MCD), Royal Caribbean (RCL), Sirius XM Radio (SIRI), T. Rowe Price (TROW) and Tupperware (TUP) are set to release earnings before the open. Dolby Labs (DLB), Mondelez International (MDLZ), PayPal (PYPL), US Steel (X) and Visa (V) plan to release earnings after the close.

7. Coming this week:
Wednesday — Fed rate decision; AT&T (T), McDonald's (MCD), Boeing (BA), Microsoft (MSFT), Facebook (FB) and Tesla (TSLA) report earnings
Thursday — Amazon, GE and UPS (UPS) report earnings
Friday — Jobs report, ISM manufacturing index, Consumer sentiment report; Exxon (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) report earnings

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