Stocks Opened Slightly Higher ahead of Fed Meeting

U.S. stocks opened slightly higher on Tuesday, ahead of the two-day Federal Reserve meeting that is expected to roll out a plan to pare the central bank’s bond holdings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 31.18 points, or 0.14%, to 22,362.53. The S&P 500 gained 3.04 points, or 0.12%, to 2,506.91. The Nasdaq Composite added 10.62 points, or 0.16%, to 6,465.26.

Crude-oil futures climbed Tuesday morning, buoyed by signals from Iraq’s oil minister that major producers within and outside OPEC could extend existing production curbs through 2018. October West Texas Intermediate crude added 46 cents, or 0.9%, to $50.37 a barrel. November Brent crude advanced 32 cents, or 0.6%, at $55.79 a barrel.

The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to say it will start reducing its $4.5 trillion portfolio of government securities when it releases its policy update on Wednesday. Rates are forecast to stay on hold, but traders will be looking hints if more hike are coming later in the year.

U.S. homebuilding fell for a second straight month in August as a rebound in the construction of single-family houses was offset by persistent weakness in the volatile multifamily home segment. Housing starts slipped 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.18 million units, the Commerce Department said.