U.S. stocks move mostly higher in quiet trading

2/19/2014

NEW YORK — The stock market is mostly higher in midday trading as investors wait for the latest news from the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 49 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,179 as of noon today.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose two points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,843 and the Nasdaq composite fell four points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,268.

Later today the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its most recent policy meeting last month. At that meeting, policymakers decided to further reduce the central bank’s bond purchases, which are keeping long-term interest rates very low.

Netflix fell 1 percent. The company is reportedly in a dispute with Verizon and other telecommunications companies over the cost of carrying Netflix’s programming through their networks.