Upbeat earnings lifts Dow Jones as focus shifts to Fed
The S&P 500 added slightly to its gains on Wednesday in choppy trading after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it kept interest rates unchanged and repeated a pledge to use its "full range of tools" to support the economy for as long as it takes to recover from fallout of the coronavirus outbreak.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc jumped 12.4% after the chipmaker raised its full-year revenue forecast. Its shares were among the top boosts to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
The Philadelphia chip index rose 1.8%.
Starbucks Corp climbed 4.1% after the coffee chain said business was "steadily recovering" worldwide and it would return to profitability in the current quarter.
Of the 163 S&P 500 firms that have reported results, 79.1% have surpassed a low bar of quarterly profit expectations, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Recent data pointed to a possible slowdown in business and hiring as several US states reimposed restrictions after a spike in COVID-19 infections, while deaths in the country caused by the disease surpassed 150,000 on Wednesday.
Top Trump administration officials and Democratic congressional leaders tried to narrow stark differences over coronavirus aid on Wednesday, with no guarantees they can craft a compromise before some unemployment benefits expire.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 96.31 points, or 0.37%, to 26,475.59, the S&P 500 gained 29.74 points, or 0.92%, to 3,248.18 and the Nasdaq Composite added 108.03 points, or 1.04%, to 10,510.12.
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher with technology stocks providing the biggest boost to the S&P 500.
Boeing Co slipped 3.1% as it slashed production on its widebody programs and reported a bigger-than-expected loss due to the fallout from the pandemic.
General Electric Co fell 4.7% as it reported a wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter, but saw less cash outflow than estimated.
The chief executives of Amazon.com Inc, Facebook Inc, Apple Inc and Alphabet's Google are set to face a congressional hearing on antitrust on Wednesday, marking the first time appearing before lawmakers together.
All four companies are set to report results on Thursday.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 2.85-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.93-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 35 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 65 new highs and 12 new lows.