Stocks struggle in early tradingInvestors welcome aspects of housing report, but remain cautious as the Federal Reserve meeting begins.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks tried to rise Tuesday morning, as investors considered a strong report on housing starts at the start of the two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 11.38 to 12,237.55, Charts), the Nasdaq (up 3.56 to 2,397.97, Charts) composite and the broader S&P 500 (up 1.54 to 1,403.60, Charts) index all added a few points in the early going. 
All three major gauges rose around 1 percent Monday, as investors jumped back into stocks following last week's selloff and in response to the day's slew of corporate deals. But after such a run, investors were a bit cautious Tuesday, particularly as the Fed meeting got underway. Policy makers are meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, with a decision on interest rates due Wednesday afternoon. The central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates steady at 5.25 percent for the sixth meeting in a row. But what the statement says about the outlook for rates through the rest of the year will be closely watched by investors. (Full story) Ahead of that, investors took in the February housing reports. Housing starts bounced back in Feb. after a big drop in Jan. However building permits, a measure of builder confidence, slipped more than expected. (Full story) In corporate news, Affiliated Computer Service (up $9.01 to $60.30, Charts) is being taken private by a group that includes the company's founder. The deal is worth $8.2 billion in cash and debt. Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.54 percent from 4.56 percent late Monday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. In currency trading, the dollar rose versus the euro and fell versus the yen. Subprime: the risk to Wall Street |
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