MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Flat Ahead Of Fed Meeting

By Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks were generally flat on Wednesday as investors remained on sidelines ahead of the policy announcement from the FOMC meeting and a news conference by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

The Fed is expected to continue tapering the bond-buying program at a pace of $10 billion a month, though there might be changes to the way it targets unemployment and inflation.

The S&P 500 (SPX) was flat at 1,872.10, after rising for two straight days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) ticked up 8 points to 16,344.12.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) was off 4 points, or 0.1%, at 4,329.52.

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Ahead of the opening bell, the sole economic release was on current accounts, which narrowed in the fourth quarter, according to the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

A batch of mixed earnings did little to influence cautious sentiment.

All attention is on the FOMC meeting, which will release a policy statement and updated economic forecasts at 2 p.m. Eastern. Fed Chairwoman Yellen will hold a news conference at the end of the deliberations at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. It will be the first news conference for Yellen as new Chairwoman. (Also see: At her first news conference, Janet Yellen's communications style will be tested http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/03/18/at-her-first-press-conference-janet-yellens-communications-style-will-be-tested/?link=instory.)

Economists broadly see the Fed tapering its bond-buying program by another $10 billion, while moving away from using a 6.5% unemployment rate as a threshold for the rate change.

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Among individual stocks, shares in KB Home (KBH) jumped 8.8% after the home maker swung to profit in its fiscal first quarter, beating analysts estimates.

Shares of Oracle Corp. (ORCL) fell 1.3% after the business-software group's adjusted profit and revenue growth wasn't as strong as analysts had forecast.

FedEx Corp. (FDX) was little changed following the release of its fiscal third-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street's expectations. FedEx Corp. said severe winter weather dragged down its earnings for the quarter ended Feb. 28.

General Mills Inc. (GIS) shares were 1.2% higher after the food company reported quarterly profit mostly in line with expectations.

In overseas markets, Asia had a mixed day, with the Nikkei 225 giving up a more than 1.2% gain at one point to close up just 0.4%, while Chinese stocks went nowhere. European markets slipped, while the FTSE 100 index rose after the release of minutes from the latest Bank of England Monetary Policy meeting and the latest jobs data.

(GBPUSD)Gold prices (GCM4) were off around $16 to $1,343 an ounce, while oil eased marginally.

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