U.S. stocks end higher as Dow industrials log 12th straight day of gains ahead of Fed’s interest-rate decisions

U.S. stock indexes finished higher on Tuesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending its winning streak to a 12th session while hitting its highest close since February 2022. Investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy decision on Wednesday and will assess Chair Jerome Powell’s comments for forward guidance on further interest-rate moves. The central bank is expected to raise the benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 5.25%-5.5%, resuming its campaign to raise borrowing costs and curb inflation after a brief pause in June. The Dow industrials
DJIA,
+0.08%
gained 27 points, or less than 0.1%, to end at 35,438. The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.28%
rose 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+0.61%
advanced 0.6%. Earnings season remains in full swing, with major tech names Alphabet
GOOGL,
+0.56%
and Microsoft
MSFT,
+1.70%
set to report after the close on Tuesday, followed by Meta Platforms
META,
+0.98%
on Wednesday and Intel
INTC,
+1.40%
on Thursday.