Shares Step Ahead - NYTimes.com Wall Street moved toward a sixth day of gains on Wednesday as investors anticipated that the Federal Reserve would announce a fresh stimulus plan to support the economy at the end of a two-day monetary policy meeting. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index traded 0.3 percent higher in morning trading, as did the Dow Jones industrial average. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.2 percent. The Federal Reserve's chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, was expected to unveil a new round of bond buying later Wednesday to bolster a fragile economic recovery threatened by political wrangling over the government's budget. "I think the market has already discounted that the Fed is going to announce more stimulus," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York, "so what's more important is what Chairman Bernanke says, which may give us clues on economic activity going forward." Negotiations intensified to avert the tax increases and spending cuts that kick in early in 2013. President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner, who have said they want to make a deal before the end of the year, spoke by phone on Tuesday after exchanging new proposals. BlackRock, one of the world's biggest asset managers, said it expected the S.&P. 500 to scale new heights in 2013 and reach 1,600 points by the end of the year. That's a gain of more than 12 percent from current levels and would surpass the index's previous peak of 1,576.09 set in 2007. On Tuesday, the S.&P. 500 closed at its highest level since Nov. 6, led by technology companies. With just two weeks of trading left this year, the S.&P. 500 is up about 13.5 percent so far; it ended the year flat in 2011.