By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Wednesday has potential to be a 'game-changer,' analyst says

U.S. stocks rose modestly on Wednesday, with investors looking ahead to the end of a two-day meeting by the Federal Reserve that is likely to deliver the third interest-rate hike since December 2015.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33 points, or 0.2%, to 20,870. The S&P 500 gained 5 points to 2,371, a rise of 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 11 points to 5,867, up 0.2%.

"Markets have been incredibly resilient, but they're currently expecting three rate hikes this year, including one today. I don't know how they'll react if there's a sense we'll get four," said Jeff Mortimer, director of investment strategy for BNY Mellon Wealth Management.

Gains were slight but broad, with all 11 of the S&P 500's primary sectors higher on the day. The top performers were energy--which rebounded from a weak session on Tuesday--and materials. Both rose about 0.6%.

Read:Here's why stock market bulls don't fear '3 steps and a stumble' as third Fed rate hike looms (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-bulls-dismiss-talk-of-3-steps-and-a-stumble-as-fed-rate-hike-looms-2017-03-14)

While a rate increase has been expected for a couple of weeks, and as such, is seen as priced into shares, market participants will be closely watching for any commentary that comes out of the central bank, which could determine what the timeline will look like for rates going forward.

The so-called dot plot that captures the central banker's projections on future rate increases is expected to send a hawkish signal (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-expected-to-send-hawkish-signals-with-the-dot-plot-2017-03-10).

The rate announcement comes out at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, followed by Yellen's press conference at 2:30 p.m.

Read:How a Fed rate hike will impact millions of Americans (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-the-fed-raising-rates-would-mean-for-your-credit-cards-and-bank-accounts-2016-12-14)

"We're keeping an eye on inflation, which could cause the Fed to raise sooner rather than later. As long as inflation is controlled, rates will be raised at a pragmatic pace," Mortimer said.

Data released Wednesday showed the consumer price index rose 0.1% in February (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/inflation-posts-smallest-gain-since-last-summer-cpi-shows-2017-03-15), the smallest increase since last summer. Separately, retail sales rose 0.1% in February (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-retail-sales-barely-budge-in-february-2017-03-15).

The ICE Dollar Index was flat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-trades-in-narrow-band-ahead-of-crucial-day-for-currency-markets-2017-03-15) ahead of the Fed's announcement.

See:

Stocks to watch: Shares of Golden Ocean Group Ltd.(GOGL) rallied 7.7% after the shipping company said it had successfully completed its $60 million share offering.

Southwestern Energy Co.(SWN) climbed 3% after Citigroup upgraded the company to buy from neutral.

Twitter Inc.(TWTR) dropped 1.9% after at least dozens of prominent accounts were hacked early Wednesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hackers-hijack-high-profile-twitter-accounts-to-make-anti-dutch-nazi-slurs-2017-03-15). The hacker posted messages supporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his diplomatic feud with the Netherlands and Germany.

AT&T Inc.(T) was also in the spotlight after the European Commission approved the telecom company's $85 billion acquisition (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-commission-approves-atts-85-billion-acquisition-of-time-warner-2017-03-15) of Time Warner Inc.(TWX). Shares of AT&T rose 0.2% while Time Warner was slightly higher.

Other markets: Oil prices rebounded after settling at their lowest levels since late November (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-rise-for-the-first-time-in-7-sessions-monthly-opec-report-ahead-2017-03-14) on Tuesday following data that showed major oil producer Saudi Arabia has started to increase production. Crude gained 1.5%, boosting energy shares. Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) rose 1.6%.

Stocks in Asia closed mostly lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-dip-lower-awaiting-fed-news-2017-03-14) as investors there waited for the Fed news. European stocks were eking out small gains (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-advance-ahead-of-dutch-election-fed-meeting-results-2017-03-15).

The Netherlands were in focus amid a closely watched election, where populist, far-right candidate Geert Wilders (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/who-is-the-dutch-trump-geert-wilders-and-should-investors-be-worried-about-him-2017-03-10) is vying to win the most seats in parliament. Wilders, like Marine Le Pen in France (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-frexit-next-why-france-is-starting-to-really-freak-out-investors-2017-02-07), has expressed an interest in the Netherlands leaving the European Union, something that caused widespread volatility when the United Kingdom voted to do so in June.

Metals were mixed, with gold lower, but other metals trading higher.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 15, 2017 10:03 ET (14:03 GMT)