US stocks mixed ahead of Fed statement

NEW YORK: US stocks opened higher Wednesday ahead of the end of a Federal Reserve meeting, with investors hoping its keenly awaited policy statement will deliver a fresh jolt to the slack economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 3.40 points (0.03 percent) to 11,412.06 by 1425 GMT.

The broader S&P 500 fell 0.72 point (0.06 percent) to 1,201.37, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite outperformed, gaining 13.63 points (0.53 percent) to 2,603.87.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is due to wind up a two-day meeting and issue its policy statement at 1815 GMT.

Most analysts expect the FOMC will announce further stimulus to help the economy.

"The Fed is widely expected to announce it will actively extend the duration of its Treasury portfolio by selling short-term paper and reinvesting long," said Chris Low, at FTN Financial.

Such an approach, modeled on the Fed's Operation Twist in 1961, aims at lowering long-term interest rates to stimulate activity.

Most analysts "think it will do little to help the economy, but that the Fed is obligated to do what it can."

Markets got a rare boost of good news on the collapsed housing market. Sales of previously owned homes soared almost eight percent in August, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The technology sector lifted sentiment after better-than-expected quarterly earnings from Oracle, up 6.7 percent at $30.24, and software maker Adobe Systems, adding 3.5 percent at $25.49.

Apple rose 1.3 percent to $419.01. Technology blog AllThingsD, citing sources close to the situation, reported Apple would launch its iPhone 5, the next-generation of its smartphone, on October 4.

The bond market was flat. The 10-year Treasury bond yield slipped to 1.93 percent from 1.94 percent late Tuesday, while the 30-year bond was unchanged at 3.21 percent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011