The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canadian and U.S. stock indexes ended Tuesday's session with gains as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy update while they digested a mixed batch of earnings reports. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that as the Fed kicked off a two-day monetary policy meeting Wednesday, the central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady, and investors will monitor its statement and Fed chair Jerome Powell's comments for clues about its plans. Optimism that the Fed would pause rate increases was offset by reactions to disappointing earnings reports and jitters over geopolitics. In Canada, a new reading on gross domestic product provided further evidence of a slowing economy. The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 16.71 points to close at 18,873.47. For the month it lost 3.4 per cent, its third straight month of declines. An uncertain outlook for oil and signs of a weaker Canadian economy have put additional pressure on the Toronto market, including bank stocks, said Philip Petursson at IG Wealth Management. The price of oil settled 1.6 per cent lower at $81.02 (U.S.) a barrel. First Quantum led the materials sector lower.