U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced it would raise interest rates by 0.25% as expected.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) added 0.4%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ticked up 0.2%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) edged up 0.5%.

In addition to raising the target range for its benchmark interest rate, the Fed left its options open for June, saying future rate hikes would be dependent on the impact of previous rate hikes on the economy.

Fed officials also deleted key language in its policy statement from March which said "the Committee anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time."

Wall Street will closely watch Fed Chair Jerome Powell's upcoming press conference for hints on whether the central bank plans to continue its cycle of tightening in June.

Some market participants have anticipated Wednesday’s expected rate hike could be the last of the cycle. But Chairman Jerome Powell could confirm or steer away from those assumptions.

Analysts say inflation remains sticky, the labor market is still hot but softening, and the economy is resilient. Plus, recent bank failures could set up the case for a pause, along with the Treasury Department's new projections adding more caution to the mix as lawmakers may have less than a month to reach a debt-ceiling deal.

On Wednesday, government bonds were lower. The yield on the 10-year note ticked down to 3.38% while the two-year note yield dipped to 3.9%. Oil prices fell — futures for West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark, dropped 4% to $68.72 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the sale of First Republic Bank’s assets to JPMorgan (JPM) on Monday did not appear to have quelled investor fears in the banking sector.

The S&P 500 regional banking index (KRE) rose more than 1% Wednesday after falling on Tuesday. A handful of individual regional bank stocks that bore the brunt of sell orders Tuesday, including shares of PacWest Bancorp (PACW), rallied as much as 5%.

Separately, hiring at private companies unexpectedly rose by 296,000 for April, above economists call for 148,000, according to payroll processing firm ADP. Other data out on Wednesday showed that ISM services PMI increased to 51.9 in April from 51.2 in March and slightly above economists estimates of 51.8.

Here are some of the trending tickers on Yahoo Finance:

• Ford Motor Company (F): The carmaker’s EV unit registered a $722 million quarterly loss. The automaker is nonetheless slashing the price of its all-electric Mustang Mach-E.

• CVS Health Corporation (CVS): The company posted a rise in sales during its first quarter as it closed its $10.6 billion deal for Oak Street Health’s 600 primary-care centers.

• Starbucks Corporation (SBUX): The coffee giant’s posted second-quarter earnings and sales expectations and notched comparable-store sales growth in China.

• Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP): Billionaire Carl Icahn got the Hindenburg Research treatment. The short-selling research firm deemed the activist investor’s fund to be inflated by 75% or more.

• The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (EL): The beauty brand forecasted a bigger drop in full-year sales and profit on Wednesday, hurt by a slowdown in China and reduced inventory levels by retailers in the U.S.

• Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD): The chipmaker reported a drop in margins and provided a forecast that didn’t give much indication for improvement.

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Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv

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