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US stocks barely higher ahead of Fed announcement

New York - Wall Street stocks finished slightly higher on Tuesday ahead of a closely-watched policy announcement by the Federal Reserve.

The Fed is not expected to raise rates on Wednesday as US economic data continues to show some signs of weakness and inflation remains weak. Many analysts expect an interest rate hike later this year, perhaps in December.

Analysts are also awaiting a policy announcement by the Bank of Japan that some believe could entail additional stimulus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.1% to 18 129.96.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained less than 0.1% to 2 139.76, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.1% to 5 241.35.

Wells Fargo rose 1.2% despite enduring tough questioning at a Senate hearing on its bogus accounts scandal.

Shares of the bank fell nearly seven percent last week in the aftermath of news the bank paid $185 million in penalties for opening some two million accounts without customers' knowledge.

Dow member ExxonMobil dropped 1.5% after the Wall Street reported that US securities regulators were investigating whether it boosted its financial statements with unrealistic accounting for low oil prices and the potential impact of climate mitigation policies.

Tobira Therapeutics, which specializes in remedies for liver disease, surged more than eight-fold on news it agreed to be acquired by Allergan for $1.7bn. Allergan lost 2.7%.

Other biotech shares were boosted, with Amgen and Biogen winning more than one percent each and Gilead Sciences 3.5%.

Shares of Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide rose 2.3% and 2.4%, respectively, after announcing that their merger had won Chinese approval, the last regulatory hurdle to completing the deal.

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