US stocks edge higher as investors weigh comments from Fed officials on the prospect of tapering

• US stocks edged higher on Tuesday as investors weighed recent comments from Federal Reserve officials on tapering prospects.
• Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Monday that bond-purchase tapering could begin in the fourth quarter.
• "Everything it seems is now pointing towards the Fed tapering its asset purchases in the coming months," a senior analyst said.

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US stocks edged higher on Tuesday as investors weighed recent comments from Federal Reserve officials on the prospect of asset-purchase tapering.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on Monday said the start of a bond-purchase taper could occur in the fourth quarter but did not rule out the possibility of an earlier start if the job market continues to show significant improvements, Reuters reported.

"There's been a lot to take in these last few weeks; major earnings, a hawkish Fed and some knockout economic readings," Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note. "Everything it seems is now pointing towards the Fed tapering its asset purchases in the coming months."

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 4,437.45, up 0.1%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,123.94, up 0.1% (22 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 14,877.79, up 0.1%

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On Tuesday afternoon, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester will discuss inflation risks.

In cryptocurrencies, the US Senate rejected a crypto-tax amendment to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that triggered a battle between lawmakers over which crypto brokers should be subject to new tax-reporting rules.

AMC Entertainment soared after reporting a narrower-than-expected loss in the second quarter. The company also revealed plans to accept bitcoin as payment for movie tickets and concessions at its US locations by the end of this year, CEO Adam Aron said in an earnings call on Monday.

Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude was up as much as 2.4%, to $68.05 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, climbed 1.9%, to $70.34 per barrel, at intraday lows.

Gold meanwhile slightly slipped as much as 0.5%, to $1,721.08 per ounce.