By Stephen Culp and Shashwat Chauhan
NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks slightly pared gains after the US Federal Reserve left its key policy rate unchanged, as widely expected, shifting the probability of a rate hike to its next monetary policy meeting in December.
In its accompanying statement, the Fed upgraded its assessment of the economy while acknowledging inflation "remains elevated."
"The Fed didn't throw any curveballs," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group
in Omaha. "It was widely expected they'd hold, so no big surprise there."
"Likely the pressure will be to do one more hike in December, as inflation is still potentially an issue," Detrick added.
Investors' focus now turns to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's press conference, which they will scrutinize for clues regarding the central bank's path through the end of the year and into 2027.
Of the three major US stock indexes, which were muted and directionless before the Fed's announcement, the S&P 500 and the Dow were slightly higher, while the Nasdaq moved nominally lower. Warsh's press conference is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT).
Financial markets are pricing in an 86.0% likelihood of a 25-basis-point rate hike at the Fed's next meeting in December, up from 78.3% on Tuesday, according to CME's FedWatch tool.
Rate hike forecasts could be swayed by upcoming data expected on Thursday, including the Commerce Department's Personal Consumption Expenditures report, which includes the central bank's preferred inflation gauge, and an advance take on third-quarter GDP.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.97 points, or 0.15%, to 52,458.54, the S&P 500 gained 7.84 points, or 0.10%, to 7,730.44 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 29.52 points, or 0.11%, to 26,447.66.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.36-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 80 new highs and 152 new lows on the NYSE.
On the Nasdaq, 2,302 stocks rose and 2,352 fell as declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.02-to-1 ratio.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 12 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 168 new lows.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rod Nickel)
