U.S. stocks rise ahead of Fed's decision on interest rates

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By Liz Moyer

AiVIF.com -- U.S. stocks were rising as investors await the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on interest rates later today.

At 9:55 ET (14:55 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 143 points or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.3%.

Wall Street expects the Fed will raise rates but by a half percentage point increment, which is smaller than the 0.75 percentage point increases it has put in place after each of its four most recent meetings. 

Investors are eager to hear from Chair Jerome Powell, who will speak at a press conference after the release of the decision this afternoon. All ears will be perked for any hints as to the Fed’s thinking on how long interest rates will remain elevated and whether it foresees a reversal of policy in the next year or so.

Tuesday’s report on inflation for November showed prices are cooling, but that might not be enough to convince the Fed that its work to tame inflation is over. 

Fed officials including Powell have said recently that they see interest rates remaining higher for longer, and that the ultimate rate might be higher than the forecasts from September. Today will bring a new set of forecasts for inflation as well as gross domestic product and unemployment.

Wall Street is expecting two rate hikes of 25 basis-points next year, which would raise the terminal rate to 4.82% by May, Reuters reported.

Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) stock rose 1.9% after the airline said adjusted earnings are expected to nearly double next year, with a forecast for revenue to rise 15% to 20% from this year.

Aspen Group Inc (NASDAQ:ASPU) stock rose 35% after the online education company beat expectations for revenue.

Oil rose. Crude Oil WTI Futures were up 2% to $76.89 a barrel while Brent Oil Futures were up 1.7% to $82.08 a barrel. Gold Futures fell 0.2% to $1822.