U.S. Stocks Advance on Microsoft Buyback as Fed Meets

U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index toward a record high, as Microsoft Corp. announced a $40 billion buyback and Federal Reserve policy makers gathered for a two-day policy meeting.

Microsoft increased 0.4 percent, pacing a rally among technology shares, as the world’s largest software maker also raised its quarterly dividend 22 percent. Safeway Inc. rallied 11 percent after adopting a poison-pill to protect against a potential hostile takeover. Mosaic Co. sank 1.2 percent after the fertilizer producer cut its quarterly forecast for potash and phosphate sales and prices.