Stocks little changed ahead of Fed's expected half-point rate hike

Stocks were largely flat in cautious trade as investors looked ahead to an expected half-point rate hike by the Federal Reserve later Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 12 points, or less than 0.1%, at 33,141, while the S&P 500 was up less than a point and the Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.2%. The Fed is widely expected to lift the fed-funds rate by 50 basis points and detail its plan to begin shrinking its balance sheet.

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