* Fed to end two-day meeting
* Consumer Price Index on tap
* Futures up: Dow 42 pts; S&P 5.3 pts: Nasdaq 11 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click []
(Adds quote, byline)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose
on Wednesday ahead of a statement from the Federal Reserve that
will be scrutinized for clues on the state of the world's
largest economy.
The Federal Open Market Committee will end a two-day
policy-setting meeting later Wednesday that is likely to show
central bank officials are more upbeat about the economy, but
not enough to tighten loose borrowing costs that have
encouraged risk-taking, economists say. For details see
[].
"I don't think the Fed will change its rhetoric
whatsoever," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies
& Co in Boston. "We're going to end the year the way we
started, with an accommodative Fed. Sometime in 2010, they may
start changing the language, but that's not going to happen
today."
The U.S. dollar <.DXY> slipped against a basket of
currencies, while crude futures <CLc1> rose nearly 1 percent
for a second straight session after nine days of losses.
"We're seeing weakness in the dollar and strength in the
commodities market, and that is usually supportive of this
marketplace," Hogan said.
S&P 500 futures <SPc2> rose 5.3 points and were above fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc2> gained 42
points and Nasdaq 100 futures <NDc2> added 11 points.
Investors also braced for data on U.S. consumer prices, due
at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT), a day after the government said
U.S. producer prices jumped a surprising 1.8 percent last month
and industrial output rose firmly, sparking inflation jitters
in financial markets.
Consumer prices are expected to have risen in November,
following a surge in energy costs, but underlying inflationary
pressures are expected to be muted due to weak labor and rental
markets.
Data on building permits, housing starts and weekly
earnings is also due at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT).
The banking sector will be in focus after sources said
global regulators will give banks a grace period before forcing
them to implement stricter capital rules, easing concerns that
lenders might need to issue massive amounts of shares in the
near future. []
The U.S. government agreed not to collect billions of
dollars in potential taxes from Citigroup Inc <C.N> in a deal
to allow the big bank to repay a taxpayer bailout, The
Washington Post reported. Citi shares fell 2.3 percent to $3.48
in premarket trading.
JPMorgan raised General Electric Co's <GE.N> price target
to $20 from $17 and kept an "overweight" rating on the stock.
GE shares rose 0.7 percent to $15.86 in premarket trading.
The latest initial public offering backed by private equity
firm Blackstone Group LP <BX.N> priced below expectations on
Tuesday and sold fewer shares than anticipated, according to an
underwriter. []
Design software maker Adobe Systems Inc <ADBE.O> reported
quarterly profit that topped expectations, saying demand for
its products picked up during November. []
Chipmaker Broadcom Corp <BRCM.O> raised its revenue outlook
for the current quarter on Tuesday, citing better-than-expected
demand in the broadband and enterprise networking segment.
[]
U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, with the Dow and S&P 500
moving off 14-month highs on inflation concerns and after
economic bellwether General Electric Co <GE.N> issued a flat
outlook for 2010.
(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
