1st LD: U.S. stocks end mixed as Fed meeting begins

NEW YORK, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed mixed Tuesday, with both the Dow and the S&P 500 refreshing closing records, as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 118.77 points, or 0.49 percent, to 24,504.80. The S&P 500 added 4.12 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,664.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 12.76 points, or 0.19 percent, to 6,862.32.

Investors watched closely on the Fed's 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, but investors want to see what the policy-making body signals about 2018.

"We all know the Fed is going to raise rates tomorrow. If they don't it would be a shock. The interesting question is whether they reveal anything about future policy steps," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

"The biggest opportunity for surprise is the number of rate hikes predicted in 2018. The market has priced in two, one in March and one in September," he added.

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.

In corporate news, shares of Boeing jumped 2.39 percent to 289.94 U.S. dollars apiece Tuesday after the aerospace giant raised its dividend and approved an 18-billion-dollar buyback late Monday. Enditem