The stock market perked up ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision Wednesday on news that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet with Chinese officials to discuss trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 170 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 was up 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2%.
Markets are hopeful that with U.S. and Chinese officials set to meet in Switzerland, there may be a path to dial back President Donald Trump’s steep tariffs on China.
The stock market fell Monday and Tuesday as Wall Street grew anxious about a lack of obvious progress on trade deals.
The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to keep interest rates steady at 2 p.m. ET today. Frank Cappelleri, founder of technical analysis firm CappThesis, writes that traders seemed reluctant to make major bets on the market ahead of the decision.
“Given how the market has reacted following the first two FOMC meetings of 2025, this caution makes sense,” Cappelleri writes. “After the late January meeting, the index zig-zagged to marginal new highs over the next two weeks before the first of two sharp down legs unfolded.”
The S&P actually entered the day almost exactly where it was prior to the March FOMC decision. This time, though the index has been rallying for four weeks rather than trying to bounce back after hitting a top four weeks earlier, Cappelleri writes.
“Now, the dominant trend over the last few weeks is undeniably higher,” Cappelleri adds. “The obvious question: can this mini uptrend resume after this pause?”