• Fed Holds: Central bank leaves funds rate unchanged
• Housing Sputters: Storms slow building in February
• Boeing Turbulence: German orders down
• Inquiry Brakes: Toyota disputes Prius woes report

The Lowdown

Stocks Notched Small Gains Tuesday after the Federal Reserve said it would leave the benchmark interest rate at a record low.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood up 44 points at 10686. The S&P 500 was up 9 at 1159, and the Nasdaq was up 16 at 2378.

The Fed held the federal funds rate at 0.00% to 0.25% and echoed its promise to keep rates low for an "extended period."

"With substantial resource slack continuing to restrain cost pressures and longer-term inflation expectations stable, inflation is likely to be subdued for some time," the Fed wrote in its statement.

The session began with promising economic data. Investors were relieved to see U.S. import prices last month post their first monthly drop since July and reducing the specter of inflationary pressures.

With the recent strength in the dollar, "people were worried the import prices would begin to move higher and that would be another catalyst for the Fed to possibly raise rates sooner, or at least signal raising rates sooner to counter inflation, but we clearly didn't get that," said Burt White, chief investment officer at LPL Financial.

Separately, the Commerce Department said housing starts decreased 5.9% to a seasonally adjusted 575,000 annual rate compared to the prior month. Economists had expected a lower annual rate of 563,000.

On the Dow, Alcoa (AA) gained and Wal-Mart (WMT) also rose, extending its gains from Monday.

Among stocks in focus, Limited Brands (LTD) rose after announcing a special dividend of $1 a share.

Boston Scientific (BSX) rebounded slightly despite being downgraded to sell by Goldman Sachs. On Monday, Boston Scientific suspended the sale of some defibrillators.

In other markets, crude-oil prices rose $1.98 a barrel to $81.78, while gold futures were stronger. The dollar weakened against both the yen and the euro. Treasurys declined, with 10-year note down to yield 3.65%.

Corporate News

• Boeing (BA) shares dropped after Air Berlin said it has reduced its aircraft orders to Boeing, citing changed market conditions in the aviation industry and its increased focus on short and medium-haul air traffic.
• General Electric (GE), one of the most economically-sensitive components, rose to a 52-week high after J.P. Morgan analysts rasied earnings estimates for the coming quarter.
• Sequenom (SQNM) dropped sharply after the genetic analysis products firm reported a widening loss.

The Economy

• February's housing starts decline was the biggest in four months, larger than the 4.7% drop predicted by economists, but it followed an upward revision in the previous month's data, when starts staged a 6.6% gain. January starts were originally reported up 2.8%.

Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report.