Investing.com – Wall Street rose higher on Wednesday as investors wait for clues on future interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 was up 12 points or 0.46% to 2,728.63 as of 9:53 AM ET (14:53 GMT) while the Dow composite increased 99 points or 0.40% to 25,064.06, and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose over 37 points or 0.52% to 7,272.19.
The Federal Reserve is expected to release the minutes of its most recent policy meeting at 2:00 PM ET (19:00 GMT). Investors will pay close attention for signs that rates could increase more than expected.
A recent batch of stronger-than-expected U.S. inflation data has bolstered bets that the Fed could increase interest rates as many as four times this year, more than the three it currently forecasts.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) was among the biggest gainers in pre-market trading, rising 1.31% while Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) increased 1.24% and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) was up 1.01%. Meanwhile, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) inched up 0.97% while Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) surged 2.60% and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) gained 0.62%.
Elsewhere, LendingClub Corp (NYSE:LC) was down 4.35% after its earnings fell for the fourth consecutive year. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) slipped 0.49%, as the brick-and-mortar store continued to sustain losses after reporting a loss in earnings. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) was down 1.47% after Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) lowered its bid for the telecommunications equipment firm.
In Europe stocks were mixed. In Germany the DAX fell 37 points or 0.30% while France’s CAC 40 increased four points or 0.09% and in London the FTSE 100 gained 25 points or 0.35%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 was down 65 points or 0.66% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 inched down seven points or 0.22%.
In commodities, gold futures rose 0.11% to $1,332.70 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 0.44% to $61.52 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, rose 0.11% to 89.74.