NEW YORK: The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 rose following a two-day slide, helped by a retreat in oil prices as investors held their breath for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision on Wednesday.
Technology shares and chipmakers rose, while energy and financials were lower. Nvidia gained nearly 2 percent and was the top gainer on the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index .
The rate move, scheduled to be announced at 2 p.m. ET, will be crucial to sentiment at a time when elevated Treasury yields, inflation and the escalating Middle East conflict have kept risk appetite in check.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s remarks will also be parsed for clues on the likely path for rates.
Traders see a nearly 91 percent chance of a rate increase, according to the CME FedWatch tool. But jitters about the decision persist.
Fed Chair Warsh was picked by US President Donald Trump with the expectation that he would cut interest rates. If the central bank stands pat, it could throw its credibility into question, especially as Warsh has said he remains focused on taming price pressures, analysts say.
“We think the Fed is right to move now rather than wait, as it will be harder to hike in October due to proximity to midterms (election),” said Strategy Asset Managers CEO Tom Hulick.
At 11:46 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.73 points, or 0.01 percent, to 52,095.84, the S&P 500 gained 31.43 points, or 0.41 percent, to 7,617.13 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 202.30 points, or 0.78 percent, to 26,183.87.
Oil prices dipped after reports that Saudi Arabia was offering additional crude cargoes via Oman eased concerns about the scale of Middle East supply disruptions.
Brent crude futures were down over 3 percent at USD105.17 and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell nearly 4 percent to USD101.77.
The S&P 500 energy index was the worst-performing sector index, down 2.3 percent, with Exxon Mobil and Chevron falling more than 2 percent each.
The technology and industrials indexes led gains and were up 0.9 percent each. Meta and Tesla rose 1.1 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
A joint call by top AI executives to slow down the development of the technology has clouded the outlook for the tech sector, although there is little clarity as yet on what such a slowdown would look like.
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