NEW YORK, June 16 — Wall Street stocks tread water early today as markets awaited a Federal Reserve decision and an update of the central bank’s view on inflation.

The Fed is widely expected to maintain its current accommodative stance, but "market participants will be eager to go through policymakers’ economic projections and hear if the Fed acknowledges if it’s getting closer to altering policy due to rising inflation pressures,” Briefing.com said in an analysis.

Housing data was mixed, with housing starts rising 3.6 per cent last Month from April and permit issues increasing three per cent. However, these gains were smaller than expected.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 per cent at 34,250.77.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped less than 0.1 per cent to 4,245.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.3 per cent to 14,110.43.

Among individual companies, General Motors jumped 2.1 per cent as it again lifted its investment plan for electric and autonomous vehicle technology. The auto giant now expects to spend US$35 billion through 2025, up 30 per cent from its prior plan.

Oracle slumped 6.1 per cent despite reporting better-than-expected results. Analysts expressed disappointment with the software giant’s forecast. — AFP