U.S. stocks tick up amid rate hike concerns

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to trade higher around midday Wednesday as Wall Street assessed the case of a December rate hike ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

Around midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 92.67 points, or 0.48 percent, to 19,344.45. The S&P 500 added 7.52 points, or 0.34 percent, to 2,219.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 8.86 points, or 0.17 percent, to 5,341.86.

The U.S. central bank will hold its policy meeting on Dec. 13-14. Analysts thought that the Fed raising rates in a week seems a foregone conclusion, but the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) may struggle to communicate what it will do next.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, market expectations for a December rate hike were 94.9 percent.

Overseas, the European Central Bank (ECB) gets ready for its policy-setting meeting on Thursday. The ECB is expected to extend its asset purchase program to further stimulate the euro zone economy, amid the political uncertainty in Italy.

On economic front, the number of job openings was little changed at 5.5 million on the last business day of October, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks extended gains, with the Dow eclipsing previous day's closing record, as investors meditated on a batch of economic reports. Enditem