Wall St flat before Fed, but techs gain

NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters) U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday before a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, but technology shares advanced on optimism about earnings, including software company Oracle Corp.'s stronger-than-expected profit.

Oracle shares jumped more than 4 percent for the biggest lift to both the Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 indexes.

Shares of design software maker Adobe Systems Inc. also rose, advancing nearly 5 percent after its quarterly profit late on Tuesday exceeded estimates.

''People are gaining confidence that this is going to be a decent year for technology spending,'' said Mike Binger, portfolio manager at Thrivent Financial in Minneapolis.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 19.31 points, or 0.16 percent, at 12,268.79. The Standard&Poor's 500 Index was down 0.36 points, or 0.03 percent, at 1,410.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 1.09 points, or 0.05 percent, at 2,407.12.

In other earnings news, investment bank Morgan Stanley posted a 60 percent jump in quarterly earnings, setting a record and exceeding expectations as debt and equity trading revenues surged. Its shares were up more than 3 percent to on the New York Stock Exchange.

But FedEx Corp. dropped 1.9 percent to 0.15 on the NYSE after the package delivery company posted a lower quarterly profit and its outlook suggested a slowing economy may weigh on future growth. ID:nN21410412 The Fed's policy-making Federal Open Market Committee was expected to hold the benchmark federal funds rate steady at 5.25 percent. Investors will focus on its statement on the outlook for the economy and interest rates and any comment about the recent turmoil in the subprime mortgage lending market. The statement is expected at 2:15 p.m. (1815 GMT).

Oracle shares were up 4 percent at .28 on the Nasdaq, while shares of Adobe gained 4 percent to .28. The stocks were the Nasdaq 100's two top advancers respectively.

In deal news, EGL Inc. said that private equity firm Apollo Management L.P. had expressed interest in buying the shipping company for per share, implying a premium of about 4 percent on EGL's Tuesday closing share price. ID:nN20323570 EGL shares were up 1.9 percent at .35 on the Nasdaq.

REUTERS DKS VV2058