U.S. stocks open higher ahead of Fed statement

U.S. stocks opened higher amid mixed data on Wednesday, as Wall Street eagerly awaited the statement after the conclusion of Federal Reserve's two-day meeting in the afternoon.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time since June 2006. However, analysts believed that the market has fully factored in the expected December rate hike.

"A rate hike is so widely expected, it' s likely to be everything but the decision that determines the market reaction," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

On the economic front, U.S. privately-owned housing starts in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,173,000, beating market consensus, said the Commerce Department Tuesday.

This is 10.5 percent above the revised October estimate of 1,062,000 and is 16.5 percent above the November 2014 rate of 1,007,000.

Meanwhile, U.S. industrial production declined 0.6 percent in November after decreasing 0.4 percent in October, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. In November, manufacturing production was unchanged from October.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 133.52 points, or 0.76 percent, to 17,658.43. The S&P 500 added 15.13 points, or 0.74 percent, to 2,058.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 39.92 points, or 0.80 percent, to 5,035.28.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks extended gains as investors cheered over a recovery in the oil prices. Endi