NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks traded flat Wednesday, as Wall Street refrained from any large moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates.
Investors, who widely expect the Fed's Open Market Committee to leave interest rates unchanged as it has done since last summer, are more concerned with the central bank's economic assessment. Wall Street hopes the Fed's statement will indicate it is not inclined to raise rates to curb inflation, which would make access to capital more expensive and potentially hurt the stock market.
The committee releases its statement at 2:15 p.m. Eastern time.
The current interest rate environment is an ideal one for stocks, and recent inflation gauges have indicated that costs are not out of control -- so unless the bank says something very unexpected, there's no reason the market can't continue on its upward climb, said Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co.
'All in all, the market's gains are not likely to be sidetracked with the comments from the Fed. There might be some gyrations, but they won't be long-lasting,' said Goldman. 'The markets tend to react better with a favorable monetary backdrop, and that's what we're witnessing.'
Also keeping investors optimistic was a government report that showed that after three months of declines, the nation's gasoline inventories rose last week. If they keep increasing, fuel costs for U.S. drivers are likely to deflate.
In midday trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.41, or 0.03 percent, to 13,312.48. The blue chip index closed slightly lower Tuesday, after hitting its 20th record close this year on Monday.
Broader stock indicators fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.94, or 0.06 percent, at 1,506.78. Last week, the S&P 500 moved above the 1,500 level for the first time in nearly seven years, bringing the index near the closing high of 1,527.46 reached in March 24, 2000.
The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index declined 8.97, or 0.35 percent, to 2,562.78. The Nasdaq was weaker than the other major stock indexes after disappointing news from companies including Dendreon Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc.
Bonds were unchanged, as investors stayed in the sidelines ahead of the Fed's decision. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was at 4.64 percent, the same as late Tuesday.
The dollar declined against other major currencies, and gold prices also fell.
Crude oil prices fell $1.25 to $61.01 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after the U.S. government reported that the nation's gasoline stockpiles increased. Gas prices at the pump are still, on average, above $3 a gallon.
Technology stocks dipped after Cisco reported an abrupt slowdown in orders from U.S. business in its quarterly financial results. The computer network equipment maker's stock fell $1.82, or 6.4 percent, to $26.54, even though its fiscal third-quarter profit soared 34 percent.
Meanwhile, Electronic Arts Inc. reported a wider fiscal fourth-quarter loss. The loss was not as large as analysts expected, but revenue was down 4 percent from the year-ago quarter, and the video game publisher said it may delay the release of its game 'Spore.' Electronic Arts fell $2.28, or 4.3 percent, to $50.66.
Putting some additional pressure on the Nasdaq, the Food and Drug Administration requested more information about Dendreon's prostate cancer vaccine Provenge, causing the stock to plunge $10.61, or 60 percent, to $7.13.
In other corporate news, The Walt Disney Co., one of the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow industrials, reported a better-than-expected fiscal second quarter after the market closed Tuesday. But revenue at the company's entertainment division fell short of some analysts' expectations. Disney fell 47 cents to $36.08.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 626.9 million shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 0.17, or 0.02 percent, at 830.72.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.52 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.01 percent, Germany's DAX index was up 0.45 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 0.29 percent.
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