Stocks closed mixed on Tuesday as market participants looked ahead towards the Federal Reserve's next policy decision due on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 130 points, while the S&P 500 Index ended at a negative flatline and the Nasdaq Composite lost nearly 0.8%.

Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -0.06% or -2.96 points to 4,924.97

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.35% or +133.86 points to 38,467.31

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -0.76% or -118.15 points to 15,509.90

In the News: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its 2024 global growth forecast on Tuesday up a 0.2 percentage point to 3.1%, alongside a 3.2% growth projection for 2025. Beneath the headline, the IMF expects the U.S. to grow by 2.1% in 2024, the EuroZone and Japan to expand by 0.9%, and the United Kingdom to grow by 0.6%.

"The battle against inflation is being won, and we have a higher likelihood of a soft landing. So that sets the stage for central banks, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and others, to start easing their policy rates, once we know for sure that we are on that path," said Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, chief economist at IMF, in the report.

"The projection right now is that central banks are going to be waiting to get a little bit more data ... confirming that we are on that path," Gourinchas added. "And then if we are, then by the second half of the year we'll see rate cuts."

On the Earnings Front: General Motors (GM  ) shares were pressured on Tuesday even as the automaker beat Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter and forecasted a strong year ahead. The company expects full year 2024 net income attributable to stockholders between $9.8 billion to $11.2 billion, representing $8.50 to $9.50 earnings per share, alongside adjusted EBIT earnings of $12 billion to $14 billion ($8.50 to $9.50 earnings per share), and adjusted automotive free cash flow between $8 billion and $10 billion.

"Consensus is growing that the U.S. economy, the job market and auto sales will continue to be resilient, and at GM, we expect healthy industry sales of about 16 million units with the mix of EVs continuing to grow," CEO Mary Barra said regarding the state of the electric vehicle market in the United States.

UPS (UPS  ) shares declined after the delivery giant delivered mixed fourth-quarter results and issued lackluster forward guidance. UPS expects full-year revenue between $92 billion and $94.5 billion, which is below Wall Street estimates. JetBlue (JBLU  ) shares also declined on Tuesday even as the airline reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

Pfizer (PFE  ) shares rose slightly higher after the pharmaceutical giant posted a surprise adjusted fourth-quarter profit on Tuesday. The company also expects revenue between $58.5 billion and $61.5 billion for its full-year 2024, which includes approximately $8 billion in revenue from tis COVID products and contributions from its acquisition of cancer drug developer Seagen.

In Economic News: Job openings ticked higher in December, the Labor Department reported in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released on Tuesday, with vacancies totaling 9.03 million for the month, above November's print of 8.92 million and economist expectations. Moreover, hiring also increased by 67,000, while quits declined by 132,000 and layoffs rose by 85,000 last month.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 114.8 in January, up from 108 in December but slightly below expectations.

"January's increase in consumer confidence likely reflected slower inflation, anticipation of lower interest rates ahead, and generally favorable employment conditions as companies continue to hoard labor," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, in a statement. "Consumer expectations for the next six months increased slightly in January, due to receding pessimism around future business conditions, labor market, and income prospects."

U.S. home prices rose in November, according to the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Index on Tuesday, with the 20-city composite index rising 5.4% annually from 4.9% i n October. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the index rose 0.1% month-to-month, while the 10-city composite index increased 0.2%.

For Wednesday: all eyes will be the on the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision due out for release in the afternoon, as well as earnings reports from Microsoft (MSFT  ) and Alphabet (GOOGL  ) (GOOG  ).