Stocks Opened Higher as Investors Braced for Rate Hike

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday, as strategists said the market could cheer the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hike that’s widely expected this afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately gained 130.38 points or 0.74%, to 17,655.29. The S&P 500 rose 13.24 points, or 0.65%, to 2,056.65. The Nasdaq Composite added 30.21 points or 0.60%, to 5,025.57.

Eight years after a devastating recession opened an era of loose U.S. monetary policy, the Federal Reserve was set on Wednesday to raise rates for the first time since 2006, in a sign the world’s largest economy had overcome most of the wounds of the global financial crisis. A decision will be released at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT), with markets prepared for an initial 25 basis point “liftoff” that would move the Fed’s target rate from the zero lower bound to a range of between 0.25 and 0.50 percentage points.

The United States appears on the brink of ending a four-decade ban on most exports of crude oil, which would mark an abrupt end to a years-long fight triggered by the domestic shale boom. Late on Tuesday evening congressional negotiators wrapped up a sprawling deal to keep the U.S. government operating through September. It included repealing the ban and granting temporary tax breaks to boost wind and solar development, according to lawmakers involved in the talks.

U.S. housing starts in November rebounded from a seven-month low and permits surged to a five-month high. Groundbreaking
jumped 10.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.17 million units, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.