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U.S. stocks open higher ahead of Fed meeting

Xinhua, December 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, as investors mainly focused on a key policy meeting from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The U.S. central bank will kick off its two-day December policy meeting on Tuesday. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point, but the Federal Open Market Committee may struggle to communicate what it will do next.

"Rates are likely to rise tomorrow, of course, but the increase is more reactive than preemptive," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, Tuesday.

According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, market expectations for a December rate hike were 95.4 percent.

On the economic front, U.S. import prices fell 0.3 percent in November, following a 0.4 percent increase in October, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. U.S. export prices edged down 0.1 percent in November after a 0.2-percent increase the previous month.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 83.94 points, or 0.42 percent, to 19,880.37. The S&P 500 rose 9.80 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,266.76. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 29.79 points, or 0.55 percent, to 5,442.33.

U.S. stocks closed mixed Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending its record run to a six straight session. Endi