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NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Stocks were pretty much in a holding pattern Wednesday morning though. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were all flat.
The Fed's Open Market Committee concludes its two-day policy meeting this afternoon. Investors are shifting their focus from Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula to the FOMC.
"Happy FOMC and Budget Day," wrote Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes in a note to investors. "And apparently, happy 'ignore everything going on in Crimea' day, too."
Related: CNNMoney's March Stock Mania
The Fed is widely expected to continue trimming, or tapering, its monthly bond buying program by another $10 billion, to $55 billion a month. The Fed's asset purchases, a policy known as quantitative easing, was created at the height of the 2008 financial crisis to support the U.S. economy. Many experts say it also has been a key driver behind the bull market in stocks for the past five years.
Traders will also listen closely for any possible Fed plans to revamp its strategy on the timing of future interest rate increases.
The Fed has said it will only raise interest rates once unemployment falls to around 6.5%, or inflation rises as high as 2.5%. It's possible Yellen may abandon these numerical targets to focus on qualitative information instead.
Related: Fear & Greed Index still idling in neutral
In corporate news, FedEx (FVX) blamed "unusually severe winter storms" for quarterly earnings that came in below estimates. But the fact that snow would impact FedEx wasn't that big of a surprise, and shares of the shipping company were modestly higher Wednesday morning. United Parcel Service (UPS, Fortune 500)reported a similarly poor profit last quarter due to the weather. Both stocks are in negative territory for the year.
Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) dropped after reporting revenue that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Shares of Orbitz (OWW) tumbled 7% after the travel site operator was downgraded to a "sell" rating by analysts at Goldman Sachs.
Horizon Pharma (HZNP)surged after the biotech company said it was buying Dublin-based Vidara Therapeutics International for $660 million. Biotechnology stocks have been on a tear this year, although some of the leading stocks have pulled back lately on concerns about valuations.
U.S. stocks closed higher Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 were each up more than 0.5% while the Nasdaq surged by more than 1%. Tuesday was the Dow's second consecutive day of gains.
Related: CNNMoney's Tech 30
European markets were uneven in afternoon trading. Asian markets were muted Wednesday and ended with mixed results.
First Published: March 19, 2014: 9:48 AM ET
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