By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy move.
At 10:35 ET (14:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 185 points or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.6% and the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.4%.
All eyes are on the Fed today, with the decision on interest rates due out at 14:00 ET while the press conference starts at 14:30. Most expect the Fed will raise rates another 0.75 percentage point, as it did in June and July.
Investors are eager to see updated projections from the Fed decision makers, which could provide clues about the direction of interest rates and how long it will take inflation to come down toward the Fed’s target.
Existing home sales in the U.S. fell for the seventh straight month in August as would-be buyers stepped to the sidelines amid rising interest rates on loans and soaring home sale prices. Existing home sales slipped 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.80 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. Not counting the early days of the pandemic, sales were the lowest since November 2015.
General Mills Inc (NYSE:GIS) shares rose 7% after the maker of Cheerios cereal raised sales and profit guidance for the full year, citing higher prices and strong demand.
Cosmetics maker Coty Inc 's (NYSE:COTY) shares also rose 5% after it hiked first quarter 2023 revenue and margin forecasts. The reopening after the pandemic hasn’t dented sales of lipstick or other beauty items.
Oil rose. Crude Oil WTI Futures was up 0.1%, to $83.95 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude rose 0.3%, to $90.75 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 0.3%, to $1675 an ounce.