Stocks Open Mildly Higher with Fed in View

U.S. stocks opened mildly higher on Tuesday after Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) boosted its dividend and as Wall Street waited for the outcome of a policy gathering by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 35.19 points, or 0.23%, to 15,529.97. The S&P 500 Index added 3.83 points, or 0.23%, to 1,701.43. The Nasdaq Composite added 8.52 points, or 0.23%, to 3,726.37.

Microsoft Corp said it would buy back up to $40 billion of its shares and raise its quarterly dividend by 22 percent. The new share repurchase program, which has no expiration date, replaces a $40 billion buyback program that was set to expire on September 30.

The Labor Department said on Tuesday its Consumer Price Index edged up 0.1 percent last month after rising 0.2 percent in July. In the 12 months through August, the increase in the CPI slowed to 1.5 percent after advancing 2.0 percent in July.

General Motors Co. is developing an electric car that can go 200 miles on a charge for around $30,000, officials at the largest U.S. auto maker said, offering a challenge to luxury electric-car startup Tesla Motors Inc.

A Citigroup Inc unit must pay $3.1 million to a Florida-based couple who alleged the firm did not properly supervise a broker who steered them to invest in a politician’s real estate developments that later went broke, a securities arbitration panel has ruled.