US STOCKS-S&P 500 ends slightly higher after Fed gives mixed signals

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* Market rebounds late in session
* Roku drops after Comcast offers free gadgets to customers
* FedEx tumbles after dismal full-year profit forecast
* Indexes: Dow +0.13%, S&P 500 +0.03%, Nasdaq -0.11%

(Updates with close)
By Noel Randewich
Sept 18 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended marginally higher on
Wednesday after Federal Reserve policymakers cut interest rates
by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, but gave mixed
signals about their next move.
With continued economic growth and strong hiring "the most
likely outcomes," the Fed nevertheless cited "uncertainties"
about the outlook and pledged to "act as appropriate" to sustain
the expansion. New projections showed policymakers at the median expected
rates to stay within the new range through 2020, bad news for
investors hoping for additional cuts to help blunt global
economic fallout from the U.S.-China trade war.
Stocks sold off immediately after the Fed's announcement but
rebounded during Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference. He
told reporters the Fed was prepared to be "aggressive" if
necessary.
"He did a very good job conveying the view that this was a
mid-cycle adjustment, but that obviously the Fed is ready to act
if it needs to do more," said Mike O'Rourke, chief market
strategist at JonesTrading.
The late-session rebound could be partly the result of short
sellers covering their positions after the earlier dip, O'Rourke
said.
Of the stock bounce, Cherry Lane Investments partner Rick
Meckler said, "The bottom line is (Powell) didn't say anything
that negative. You think about what he presented, it's status
quo. People thought about it, they thought about the fact that
rates are going lower, that normally is supportive for stocks."
Expectations of lower rates have supported Wall Street's
rally this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX up almost 20%
year to date and about 1% below its record high close in July.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.13% to end at
27,147.08 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.03% to
3,006.73.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.11% to 8,177.39.
Six of the 11 major S&P sectors climbed, led by a 0.5%
increase in the S&P utilities index .SPLRCU and a 0.4% rise in
the financial index .SPSY .
The interest-rate sensitive S&P 500 banks index .SPXBK
rose 0.7%.
The central bank also widened the gap between the interest
it pays banks on excess reserves and the top of its policy rate
range, a step taken to smooth out problems in money markets that
prompted a market intervention by the New York Fed this week.
FedEx FDX.N shares tumbled 12.9%, posting their deepest
one-day percentage drop since the financial crisis after the
company blamed U.S.-China trade tensions and a split with
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O for its dismal full-year profit
forecast.
Roku ROKU.O slumped 13.7 after Comcast CMCSA.O said it
will offer its own streaming media set top box for free to its
U.S. internet-only customers. Beyond Meat dropped 3.9 after Restaurant Brands
International Inc's QSR.TO Tim Hortons cut the faux meat
maker's burgers and sandwiches from its menu in most Canadian
provinces, months after a nationwide roll-out at the breakfast
chain. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.21-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.52-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 42 new highs and 38 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.7 billion shares, compared
with the 6.9 billion-share average over the last 20 trading
days.