U.S. stocks narrowly fluctuate ahead of Fed statement

U.S. stocks wavered between gains and losses in a tight range in the morning session Thursday, as investors were eagerly awaiting the outcome of the Federal Reserve's key policy meeting.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 4.44 points, or 0.03 percent, to 16,744.39. The S&P 500 rose 1.15 points, or 0.06 percent, to 1,996.46. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 9.16 points, or 0.19 percent, to 4,898.40.

Investors are closely watching the Fed's ongoing policy meeting, as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) could raise interest rates for the first time in nine years. All eyes are on Thursday afternoon's highly-anticipated statement and press conference.

"We expect the Fed will choose to start normalizing rates today, not because it is necessarily warranted, but because -- in their own words -- they believe it is warranted, and because in the end they are likely to agree 25bp is not a big deal one way or the other," chief economist at FTN Financial Chris Low said.

Uncertainty about the Fed's decision whether or not to hike rates at the meeting has been contributing to recent volatility in the market.

On the economic front, in the week ending Sept. 12, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims fell 11,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 264,000, below market consensus of 275,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 272,500, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 275,750.

Meanwhile, U.S. privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,126,000, according to the Commerce Department Thursday. This is 3.0 percent below the revised July estimate of 1,161,000, but is 16.6 percent above the August 2014 rate of 966,000. Endit