Dow on pace for third day of gains Thursday in final hour of trade

U.S. stocks were higher Thursday afternoon in the final hour of trade, putting the Dow on pace for a third consecutive session of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.50%
was up about 165 points, or 0.5%, near 33,832, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
+0.62%
was 0.6% higher and the Nasdaq Composite Index
COMP,
+1.02%
was advancing by 0.9%, according to FactSet. Investors have been focused on next week’s two-day Federal Reserve meeting, especially on whether the central bank will skip a rate hike in June, or potentially even signal a longer pause to let its prior slavo of rate increases time to sink in. Some economists see a “skip” in June by the Fed as unlikely.