As a slew of positive earnings updates and hopes for assurances of continued support from the Federal Reserve overshadowed concerns about next steps for the government’s coronavirus support plan, U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc jumped 12.4% after the chipmaker raised its full-year revenue forecast… Starbucks Corp climbed 3.9% 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…
The Fed’s statement is expected at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), which will be followed by Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference. “Market participants expect the Fed to keep policy in the same place, that is a very accommodative place. Powell’s objective is not to make any waves in the press conference,” said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at Mellon, a BNY Mellon Investment Management firm in Boston.
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.
MacDailyNews Take: A rising tide lifts all boats.