US stocks little changed before Fed rate decision

NEW YORK, Sep 19 (Reuters) U.S. stocks were little changed on Tuesday as data showed inflation slowing in August, but investors avoided placing big bets a day before the Federal Reserve decides on interest rates.

Shares in Target Corp. rose after the second-largest U.S.

discount retailer said September sales would come in near the high end of its forecast. For details, see ID:nN181030. Target advanced 0.6 percent to .93.

Producer prices rose less than expected, while core prices fell in August, reinforcing the view the Fed will hold interest rates steady on Wednesday and is likely to refrain from further hikes this year.

''The market is a pretty good anticipator of news. It has already moved up higher in advance of the good stream of data,'' said Scott Wren, senior equity strategist at A.G. Edwards&Sons Inc, in St.

Louis.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 17.13 points, or 0.15 percent, at 11,537.87. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index was down 0.71 point, or 0.05 percent, at 1,320.47. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.01 points at 2,235.76.

Oracle Corp., the world's biggest maker of database software, rose 0.8 percent to .39 before it is scheduled to report earnings after the market closes.

Shares of ImClone Systems Inc. fell more than 7 percent to .32 after a court invalidated the biotechnology company's ownership of a key cancer drug patent. ID:nN1936522 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., which owns about 20 percent of ImClone, fell 0.6 percent to .74.

Producer prices rose 0.1 percent, the Labor Department said, which was less than economists' expectations of a 0.2 percent gain, according to a Reuters poll. The core producer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell 0.4 percent, compared with expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.

In other data, the pace of U.S. home building fell more sharply than expected in August, renewing concerns that consumers will slow their spending. ID:nN18463595 In other earnings news, AutoZone Inc., the largest U.S. auto parts retail chain, on Tuesday posted higher quarterly earnings ID:nN19356228 AutoZone's shares rose 3.9 percent to .74.

REUTERS SBA PM2013