Yahoo Finance Wall Street higher ahead of Fed call as FTSE closes in green
Wall Street was higher as investors looked forward to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and the FTSE closed in the green ahead of the Bank of England's call on Thursday.
FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose by 0.33% to close at 7,369%, while the CAC 40 (^FCHI) in Paris rose 0.63% to 6,928 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) advanced 0.72% to 14,916.
Across the pond, stocks rallied as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy decision.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) gained 0.19% to 33,116 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.48% to 4,213 points and the tech-heavy NASDAQ (^IXIC) climbed 0.71% to 12,941 points.
The Federal Reserve will set interest rates later on Wednesday. The Fed is expected to leave interest rates in a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, a level first reached in July, while it assesses whether its existing monetary tightening is enough to bring down inflation.
The rate decision and an accompanying statement by Fed chair Jerome Powell will be released at 6pm, London time.
On Thursday, the Bank of England will announce its rate decision. Threadneedle Street is also expected to hold interest rates at 5.25%.
Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) was muted and trading at around $87 (£71.61) per barrel.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) gained 2.41% to 31,601 points, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong finished basically flat, slipping 0.06% to 17,101. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) barely managed to finish in positive territory, rising 0.14% to 3,023 points.
Watch: Is the Fed about to spook the markets?
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