U.S. stocks tick up as Fed meeting begins

NEW YORK, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher around midday Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting.

By noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 135.22 points, or 0.55 percent, to 24,521.25. The S&P 500 added 7.72 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,667.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 6.93 points, or 0.10 percent, to 6,882.01.

Investors kept a close eye on the Fed's policy meeting, with an updated policy statement set to be released after the conclusion of the meeting on Wednesday. Following the release, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold her last news conference as the central bank chief.

The Fed is widely expected to deliver its third interest-rate hike for 2017. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, market expectations for a Fed rate hike in December already stood at 100 percent.

On the economic front, the Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.4 percent in November, seasonally adjusted, beating market consensus of a 0.3-percent gain, the U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday.

On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index rose 3.1 percent for the 12 months ended in November, the largest advance since a 3.1-percent increase for the 12 months ended January 2012.

In corporate news, shares of Boeing jumped over 2 percent around midday Tuesday after the aerospace giant raised its dividend and approved an 18-billion-U.S.-dollar buyback late Monday. Enditem