U.S. stocks are drifting higher following signals that the U.S. economy remains solid, for the moment at least.

A solid reading on home sales helped limit the downside for stocks. Indeed, data from the National Association of Realtors showed existing home sales rose 4.2% month over month in February to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.26 million. Year over year, sales were down 1.2%.

U.S. stocks are drifting higher Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will say in the afternoon about where interest rates may be heading. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in early trading.