US stocks gained on Wednesday with investors looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision.
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.1% at 9:39 a.m. in New York, with the benchmark heading toward the closing record set on Feb. 19. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index was up 0.1%.
“We’re close to the all-time highs with a tremendous amount of event risk over the summer,” said Sameer Samana, head of global equities and real assets at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “For most investors, now would be a good time to rebalance and get ready for additional event-related volatility over the summer.”
A hawkish signal is expected from the Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting later on Wednesday. Bloomberg Economics sees the Fed being unimpressed with four-straight soft inflation reports and leaning on internal forecasts pointing to an eventual inflation surge from tariffs.
“Markets are in wait-and-see mode ahead of the FOMC meeting, though the degree of resilience given the political uncertainty has been impressive,” said Nationwide’s Mark Hackett. “The consensus is that Chair Powell will shift modestly more dovish, though that is unlikely to be sufficient to drive markets out of the newly established trading range.”
Geopolitical tensions are adding to the heightened uncertainty faced by Fed policymakers, who are also contending with inflation and labor market risks linked to President Donald Trump’s trade agenda. Tariffs have yet to accelerate price increases, but consumers are becoming more anxious.
