Stocks slightly up ahead of Fed signaling

March 16, 2010 2:49 PM EDT

The U.S. stock market is hovering at a slight gain as investors look to parse through the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement for any information that will signal policy changes for the future. The statement will be released at 2:15 pm EST.

The S&P 500 Index is up 2.53 points, or 0.22 percent, at trade at 1,153.04 at 10:28 am EST. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 5.67 points, or 0.05 percent, to trade at 10,647.82. The Nasdaq Composite is up 0.16 percent.

A rally in the global markets began around the opening of the London Stock Exchange as market participants digested Senator Chris Dodd's proposed financial reform bill and cheered the progress made on plans to aid Greece, although no specific details have been confirmed.

Futures on crude oil, futures on the S&P 500, and EUR/USD all made their lows for the day around the London opening and have drifted up since then.

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U.S. financial firms continue to rally modestly, with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) gaining 0.83 percent, Citigroup (NYSE:C) gaining 2.44 percent, and American International Group (NYSE:AIG) gaining 2.86 percent.

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), however, have erased earlier gains to trade slightly down for the day.

Despite the waning fears of the Dodd proposal and optimism about Greece, some market participants are still wary ahead of the FOMC statement.

While there is virtually no possibility that the Federal Reserve will raise the fed funds rate, investors will analyze the FOMC statement for any signals and outlook changes on key issues such as inflationary expectations and the economic recovery with respect to the job market.

In particularly, investors will watch if the Fed will, according to expectations, reiterate its promise to keep interest rates low for an "extended period."