The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, Dec. 9, edition that major stock indexes fell on Monday as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy update on Wednesday. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that hopes for a December rate cut increased after recent data showed moderate growth in U.S. consumer spending, but uncertainty remains due to a potentially divided Fed. BMO's Carol Schleif said: "It'll be hard for the market to find a direction that it wants to follow until after the Fed meeting. We just came off a really strong earnings season and we won't have earnings again for another four weeks. The only thing that the market really has to hang its hat on or to point to is the Fed." Traders are pricing in an 89-per-cent chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday. Higher U.S. Treasury yields also pressure equities, with the S&P 500 down 23.89 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 6,846.51. Paramount Skydance's $108.4-billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery aimed to outbid Netflix, driving Warner Bros.' shares up 4.4 per cent. Paramount's shares rose 9 per cent, while Netflix's stock fell 3.4 per cent. Netflix was among the major drags on the S&P 500 Communication Services Index.