US stocks little changed ahead of Fed decision

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks tread water early Wednesday as markets awaited a Federal Reserve decision and an update of the central bank's view on inflation.

The Fed is widely expected to maintain its current accommodative stance, but "market participants will be eager to go through policymakers' economic projections and hear if the Fed acknowledges if it's getting closer to altering policy due to rising inflation pressures," Briefing.com said in an analysis.

Housing data was mixed, with housing starts rising 3.6 percent last Month from April and permit issues increasing three percent. However, these gains were smaller than expected.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 34,250.77.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped less than 0.1 percent to 4,245.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.3 percent to 14,110.43.

Among individual companies, General Motors jumped 2.1 percent as it again lifted its investment plan for electric and autonomous vehicle technology. The auto giant now expects to spend $35 billion through 2025, up 30 percent from its prior plan.

Oracle slumped 6.1 percent despite reporting better-than-expected results. Analysts expressed disappointment with the software giant's forecast.