(Reuters) - Stocks briefly dipped into negative territory and then inched higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve, in its latest policy statement, stuck to its stimulus plan. The Fed also repeated its vow to keep rates near zero until mid-2015. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 11.13 points, or 0.08 percent, at 13,113.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX was up 1.18 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,414.29. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was up 1.96 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,992.42.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday stuck to its plan to keep stimulating the U.S. economy until the job market improves and repeated its vow to keep rates near zero until mid-2015. In a policy statement after a two-day meeting, the central bank acknowledged hints of strength in the U.S. housing market, but reiterated a pledge to continue supporting growth even as the recovery picks up.

• Read more

(Reuters) - New single-family home sales surged in September to the highest level in nearly 2-1/2 years, further evidence the housing market recovery is gaining steam. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that new home sales increased 5.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted 389,000-unit annual rate -- the fastest pace since April 2010, when sales were boosted by a tax credit for first-time homebuyers.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The United States filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Bank of America Corp, accusing it of selling thousands of toxic home loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that went into default and caused more than $1 billion of losses. Wednesday's case, originally brought by a whistleblower, is the U.S. Department of Justice's first civil fraud lawsuit over mortgage loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

• Read more

(Reuters) - The sentencing on Wednesday of fallen Wall Street titan Rajat Gupta for insider trading could come down to whether a judge agrees that his lifetime of charity counts against sending him to prison. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc board member was convicted in June of leaking boardroom secrets to hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam, his friend and former business associate, at the height of the financial crisis.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett sees clear signs that the global economy is slowing, although the U.S. economy is "inching ahead" as other regions decline, the Berkshire Hathaway chief executive officer said on Wednesday. Yet despite the weakness, Buffett said he was "salivating" to make another major acquisition, adding that two deals of around $20 billion each had fallen through this year.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Stocks fell on Tuesday, putting the Dow industrials on track for the biggest drop since June 21, after a series of weak quarterly results from bellwether companies. Multinationals including DuPont (DD.N) and United Technologies (UTX.N) fell short of Wall Street's revenue expectations, amplifying worries about the health of the global economy.

• Read more

(Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has told close friends he probably will not stand for a third term at the central bank even if President Barack Obama wins the November 6 election, the New York Times reported. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has already said he would not re-nominate Bernanke if he wins the presidency. Bernanke's term as chairman ends in January 2014.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Faced with weakening revenue, two of the largest U.S. companies warned on Tuesday that they would cut jobs as a way of protecting their profits. DuPont Co (DD.N) said it planned to lay off about 1,500 workers - roughly 2 percent of its global headcount - as the chemical company grapples with weakening demand from the construction and renewable energy sectors.

• Read more

(Reuters) - Apple Inc is expected to make its biggest product move on Tuesday since debuting the iPad two years ago, launching a smaller, cheaper tablet into a market staked out by Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc. Apple hopes to beat back their charge onto its home turf of consumer electronics hardware, while safeguarding its lead in the larger 10-inch tablet space that even deep-pocketed rivals like Samsung Electronics have found tough to penetrate.

• Read more