U.S. stocks rally ahead of Fed minutes

U.S. stocks posted modest gains around midday Wednesday, as investors were awaiting the minutes of the Federal Reserve's March policy meeting scheduled for release in the afternoon.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21.12 points, or 0.12 percent, to 17,896.54. The S&P 500 increased 6.47 points, or 0.31 percent, to 2,082.80. The Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 38. 09 points, or 0.78 percent, to 4,948.32.

The Fed minutes were expected to give more clues about the timing of the rate hike. After its March policy meeting, the Fed dropped the pledge to be "patient" in beginning to raise interest rates from a statement, which analysts saw as a gesture to pave the way for an interest rate hike.

"Today's Fed minutes could be the highlight in an otherwise slow news week. The FOMC's fed funds target as depicted by the dot plot tumbled by about 100bp in 2016, and so far the only explanation is St. Louis Fed President Bullard's assertion the shift reflects the Fed's decision not to raise rates in March," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Oil prices plunged Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported weekly crude inventories rose more than expected by 10.9 million barrels, with the U.S. oil price diving near 5 percent.

Dragged by tumbling oil prices, energy sector, the second biggest laggard among the S&P 500's ten sectors, declined 0.70 percent around midday.

Alcoa kicks off corporate earnings season, with its first quarter earnings expected after Wednesday's closing bell. Many analysts expected that the overall earnings for the first quarter of 2015 would be hurt by the stronger dollar and lower oil prices. Endite