Wall Street opens flat as investors await Fed decision

Wall Street opened little changed on Wednesday as investors waited for the conclusion of the two-day Federal Reserve meeting for indications of a third interest rate hike this year.

The policy statement and projections are due to be released at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT). Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold a press conference half an hour later, which will be closely watched for views on inflation.

The central bank is likely to keep interest rate unchanged and say that it will start unwinding its holdings of about $4.2 trillion in bonds and mortgage-backed securities.

"Fed will likely be a non-event, but if they are slightly more dovish in their language, I think you could see a reversal in the banks, but I don't see a lot of activity," said Aaron Clark, portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management.

"The Fed is being extremely transparent, so they don't want to surprise the market with the normalization process."

The plan will limit the amount of maturing bonds used each month to purchase new ones. The initial cut will be $10 billion per month, probably beginning in October.

Inflation has remained stubbornly below the Fed's 2-percent target rate, but a recent data showed uptick in domestic consumer prices, which raised the chances of a December rate hike by more than 50 percent.
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