Stocks Finished Higher ahead of Fed

U.S. stocks finished modestly higher on Wednesday, gaining for a second straight session, as investors remained wary ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement due Thursday. The Dow industrials closed up 9.99 points, or 0.07%, at 13,333.35. The Nasdaq Composite rose 9.78 points, or 0.32%, to 3,114.31, and the S&P 500 ended 3.00 points, or 0.21%, higher at 1,436.56.

Amid widespread expectations that the Federal Reserve will start another round of bond buying to spur lending and stimulate the economy, some on Wall Street say that a hoped-for stock rally already has come and gone.

Apple on Wednesday lifted the curtain on the eagerly awaited fifth update to its popular iPhone. Chief Executive Tim Cook took to a San Francisco stage to unveil the new iPhone 5, a slimmer device billed as 20 percent lighter than its predecessor – the company’s slimmest yet – with a four-inch display, faster processing time and sharper color resolution.

Shares of Facebook Inc.(FB) rose 7.7% to close at $20.93 on Wednesday, in their biggest one-day percentage gain since the social-networking company went public in May. The rally came a day after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg made upbeat remarks on Facebook’s ability to grow its mobile-ad business. The stock is still down 45% from its IPO price of $38.