Stocks higher as investors wait on Fed - Yahoo! News

Stocks higher as investors wait on Fed - Yahoo! News: "By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer" NEW YORK - Wall Street advanced sharply Tuesday as the Federal Reserve opened a two-day meeting expected to bring another interest rate cut to revitalize the U.S. economy. The Fed's rate decision is clearly the market's focus this week, and trading is marked by investors' conjectures about policymakers' thoughts on the weak economy and crunched financial industry. With an announcement not expected until Wednesday afternoon, the market in the meantime digested data on earnings, consumer spending and durable goods. Investors did get some encouragement about the economy after the Commerce Department said orders for big-ticket items rose 5.2 percent in December, the widest jump in five months. In addition, the Conference Board reported consumer confidence fell in January — pretty much as expected. Economic data will continue to be scrutinized as investors try to determine what the Fed's take is on the economy. Investors are angling for a half-point cut following its emergency three-quarter-point cut last week. "The market is just in a holding pattern," said Todd Leone, managing director of equity trading at Cowen & Co. "It seems we've hit a short-term bottom, and the market has been stabilizing as we wait to hear what the Fed says." According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 96.41, or 0.78 percent, to 12,480.30. The blue chip index closed near its high of the day. Broader indexes were also higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 8.33, or 0.62 percent, to 1,362.29, and the Nasdaq composite advanced 8.15, or 0.35 percent, to 2,358.06. ___ On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com