US stocks rise as markets await Fed decision

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks bounced early Wednesday on receding worries over Chinese company Evergrande and ahead of a closely-watched Federal Reserve decision.

Embattled Chinese property titan Evergrande said it had agreed a deal with domestic bondholders that should allow it to avoid missing one of its interest payments, mollifying somewhat one major source of market angst this week.

Stocks fell sharply on Monday on worries over an Evergrande default and equities failed to hold on to early gains Tuesday.

About 15 minutes into trading on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 percent at 34,131.13.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 4,373.19, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.2 percent at 14,775.83.

All eyes will be on the Fed at 1800 GMT when it updates the market on monetary policy plans. The central bank is not expected to announce an immediate tapering of bond purchases, but could provide details on the plans to start the process.

US stocks choppy ahead of Fed report

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said the central bank could also project a quicker timeframe for rate hikes, which are currently not forecast until 2023.

Such a move "could serve as an excuse to resume selling interest even though the policy rate would still be remarkably low on any initial rate hike," O'Hare said.

The Fed slashed the benchmark lending rate to zero in March 2020 at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among individual stocks, FedEx plunged 8.0 percent as it cut its profit forecast due to higher labor costs and expenses tied to global supply chain upheaval.