Stocks Start Flat Ahead of Fed Decision

U.S. stocks opened near unchanged on Wednesday, ahead of an announcement by the Federal Reserve on the future of its economic stimulus program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 22.43 points, or 0.14%, to 15,507.30. The S&P 500 was up 0.23 point at 1,704.99. The Nasdaq Composite rose 4.58 points, or 0.12%, to 3,750.28.

Construction on new U.S. homes nudged up in August as starts for single-family homes rose, while apartment starts dropped, the government reported Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Commerce said that construction on new homes rose 0.9% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000.

The number of mortgage applications filed in the U.S. last week jumped about 11% from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis as interest rates declined, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

FedEx Corp (FDX) posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on cost cuts and said it would raise rates next year for express shipping. It earned $489 million, or $1.53 a share for its first quarter that ended August 31.

General Mills Inc reported lower quarterly earnings on Wednesday, but the maker of Cheerios cereal and Progresso soups said sales rose due to the addition of new businesses.Net income fell to $459.3 million, or 70 cents per share, in the first quarter ended on August 25 from $548.9 million, or 82 cents per share, a year earlier.

Oracle Corp (ORCL) is expected to post results on Wednesday that one analyst says appear to be “slightly better this time around.” Oracle will report fiscal first-quarter results after Wednesday’s closing bell.

Oil rises past $106 ahead of Fed policy decision. By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for October delivery was up 66 cents to $106.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.