US stocks on the rise

Nervous investors sent stocks lower today as they anxiously awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates and looked past an increase in US oil inventories and a solid advance in the gross domestic product.

“We’re just waiting for news tomorrow,” said Jack Caffrey, equities strategist at JP Morgan Private Bank.

“Traders are like kids in the back seat of the car saying, ’Are we there yet? Are we there yet?’ The traders are saying, ‘Is the report out? Is the report out?’“

Investors sent stocks up in the morning on falling oil prices and a Commerce Department report that the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2005.

The report’s new reading on gross domestic product was a marked improvement from the 3.5% estimated for the quarter a month ago and matched growth in the final quarter of 2004.

But the two-day meeting of the Fed’s Open Market Committee, which sets the central bank’s interest rate policy, weighed on the market.

The Fed’s decision, and its accompanying statement assessing the economy, was expected Thursday afternoon.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.15, or 0.30%, to 10,374.48.

Broader stock indicators fell slightly. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 1.72, or 0.14%, at 1,199.85 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.00, or 0.05%, to 2,068.89.