While you were sleeping: UPDATED Wall St little changed ahead of Fed meeting

Stocks on Wall Street were little changed, while the US dollar slid, as investors await the outcome of the US Federal Reserve policy meeting on Wednesday to gauge the timing of the next interest rate increase.

While few expect the Federal Open Market Committee to announce a rate hike this week, most bet they will do so later this calendar year.

"Fears about the Fed increase will then dissipate, and all you can do is try to follow that news flow," London-based Coutts & Co chief investment officer lan Higgins told Bloomberg.

"The Fed is aware of what the market is looking for and hopefully we'll get no policy shock."

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.63 points, or 0.02% to 18,120.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.2% to 5235.03, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was unchanged at 2139.12.

Telecom stocks in the S&P 500 fell 0.7%, while utilities climbed 1%.

"The market has been all over the place. It's been driven by the threat of higher interest rates," Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, told Reuters.

Rate rise will end bull market
"Most people feel the most unloved bull market in recent memory will be cut off at the knees by higher interest rates and the Fed is certainly threatening that in the near term," he says.

Some are keen for the Fed to move now.

"Let's get on with it already," State Street Global Advisors chief investment strategist Michael Arone told Reuters. "It will cause some challenges to the market but I think that is healthy in the context of a normal business cycle.

“It will increase the cost of capital, and flush out some riskier assets in the short term. But that is probably the right thing to do."

Building sentiment reaches high
Meanwhile, a report showed that a gauge of US home builder sentiment in September climbed to the highest level in almost a year, according to the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.

"As household incomes rise, builders in many markets across the nation are reporting they are seeing more serious buyers, a positive sign the housing market continues to move forward," NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a home builder and developer from Bloomington, Illinois, says.

"The single-family market continues to make gradual gains and we expect this upward momentum will build throughout the remainder of the year and into 2017."

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index ended the day with a gain of 1% from the previous close. Germany's DAX index rose 1%, France's CAC 40 index climbed 1.4%, while the UK's FTSE 100 Index increased 1.5%.

(BusinessDesk)

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