By Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. stock market edged up on
Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he did not seek
to partition Ukraine, while signing a treaty to annex Crimea.
Investors turned all their attention to the Federal Reserve's
two-day policy-setting meeting which is set to begin on Tuesday,
while reaction to a pair of economic reports that were in line with
expectations was muted.
The S&P 500 (SPX) added 4 points, or 0.2%, to 1,852.88.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 33.44 points, or
0.2%, to 16,281.27, with Microsoft Corp leading the gains.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) gained 13 points, or 0.3%, to
4,293.19.
Follow our stock market coverage on live blog.
Markets took Putin's remarks justifying annexing Crimea and
saying that he did not seek to partition Ukraine, in stride.
A pair of economic reports that were in line with expectations
added little to the sentiment.
Construction on new U.S. homes fell slightly in February, but in
a sign that work will pick up as the weather warms, builders filed
more permits to start new projects -- mainly on multi-dwelling
units like condos and apartments. The previous months' number was
revised higher. Also: Spotlight on the economy: Is housing
construction about to warm up?
Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics
wrote housing starts numbers 'could have been worse, but
single-family permits numbers are worrying'.
"The not-so-good news is that all the increase in permits in
February was in the volatile multi-family component, while
single-family fell for the third straight month to their lowest
level since Jan 13. The trend here is clearly downwards, and SF
starts are even weaker," he wrote in a note.
Consumer prices in the U.S. rose slightly in February because of
higher food and housing costs, but overall inflation remained
quiet, according to the latest government figures.
The Fed will release a policy statement and updated economic
forecasts on Wednesday afternoon. Chairwoman Yellen is due to hold
a news conference after the meeting, the first to be led by her.
Analysts expect the Fed will roll out a new low-rate pledge and
further tapering of its monthly bond-buying program.
Among individual stocks, GameStop Corp. (GME) shares dropped
4.6% after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) said it would allow customers
to hand in used videogames in exchange for gift cards, which can be
used in its retail stores or online. The change in policy from
Wal-Mart Stores could eat away at GameStop's dominance of the $2
billion used videogame market in the U.S.
Shares of FutureFuel Corp.(FF) rose 19% as the biofuels company
late Monday reported a more-than-fourfold jump in profit. Hertz,
Adobe, Oracle are stocks to watch Tuesday.
Coach Inc (COH) shares rose slightly after Barclays initiated
coverage of the stock with 'equalweight' rating, according to Dow
Jones.
Shares of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ) slipped 0.8% after
the auto-rental group posted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings. It
also said it received board approval to proceed with a spinoff of
its equipment-rental business that is expected to close by early
next year.
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter
results after the bell, with analysts looking for earnings of 70
cents a share on sales of $9.36 billion. Shares were up 1.2%
premarket.
In other markets, gold (GCJ4) fell on Tuesday in volatile
trading as investors looked ahead to the Fed meeting. Gold lost
ground Monday as investors put money back into stocks. The dollar
fell sharply against the Japanese yen (USDJPY), also reversing some
of the previous day's moves. Oil prices (CLJ4) were marginally
higher.
European stocks gained ground. Earlier, the German ZEW survey of
investor sentiment for March came in weaker than expected. The
Nikkei 225 index largely tracked Wall Street gains from Monday,
with that index gaining close to 1%. The Shanghai Composite Index
was flat.
More must-reads from MarketWatch:
Fund managers are dumping risk on Ukraine tensions: B. of A.
Merrill Lynch
Don't let 'March Madness' bust your portfolio bracket
At her first press conference, Janet Yellen's communications
style will be tested
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires