U.S. stocks are hanging around their records on Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve in the afternoon about what it will do with interest rates.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 193 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.7% higher. All three indexes are coming off their latest all-time high.
The bond market was also relatively still as the countdown ticked to the announcement from the Fed. The widespread expectation is that it will announce the second cut of the year to its main interest rate in hopes of helping the slowing job market. More important will be whether the Fed gives hints about whether it will keep cutting at its next meeting in December.
The U.S. stock market has surged to records in part because of expectations for continued cuts to rates, which would help make stock prices look less expensive than they’ve become. But the Fed has warned that it may have to halt the cuts if inflation accelerates beyond its still-high level, because lower rates can worsen inflation.

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