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WALL STREET INDEXES SLIP INITIALLY, BUT THEN PULL UP TO SMALL GAINS

After rallying on Wednesday following the Federal Reserve update, Wall Street's major indexes opened lower on Thursday before regaining lost ground to advance slightly after the first half hour of trading.

The central bank had kept its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25%-4.50% range, and indicated that two quarter-point interest-rate cuts were likely later this year, which was the same median forecast as three months ago.

But Fed chair Powell talked about high uncertainty due to tariff policies while the Fed also forecast slower economic growth and higher inflation.

Showing a corporate impact from government policies, shares in Accenture ACN.N are down 7.7% after the consultancy firm said the Trump administration's efforts to reduce federal spending have led to delays and cancellations of new contracts.

But at 10:00 a.m ET/1400 GMT, around the time the S&P 500 turned green again, data from the National Association of Realtors was released showing U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly rose in February as rising supply pulled buyers back into the market.

Home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million units, vs estimates for a drop to 3.95 million units.

Most of the S&P 500's 11 major sectors are now higher with communication services .SPLRCL, up more than 1%, posting the biggest rise. Just energy .SPNY and materials .SPLRCM are edging red.

Here is your morning snapshot from 10:21 a.m ET/1421 GMT:

(Sinéad Carew)

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