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U.S. stocks rally amid Fed meeting

Xinhua, December 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks traded higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearing 20,000 for the first time, as investors mainly focused on a key policy meeting from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 99.87 points, or 0.50 percent, to 19,896.30. The S&P 500 rose 14.25 points, or 0.63 percent, to 2,271.21. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 65.80 points, or 1.22 percent, to 5,478.34.

The U.S. central bank kicked 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, on 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 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.

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