US Stocks Boosted By FedEx, Microsoft

NEW YORK,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -21st Sept,2016) : Strong FedEx earnings and a dividend hike from microsoft boosted US stocks early Wednesday ahead of a much-anticipated monetary policy announcement by the Federal Reserve.

FedEx jumped 5.4 percent after reporting a 3.3 percent rise in fiscal first-quarter earnings to $715 million in results that bested expectations. Dow member Microsoft gained 1.2 percent as it increased its dividend and announced a new share repurchase program of up to $40 billion.

About 25 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent at 18,214.13. The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent to 2,150.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 05 percent to 5,269.10.

Stocks were supported by expectations that the Fed will not hike interest rates today. But Fed Chair Janet Yellen is expected to offer signals on when to expect future increases.

The Nikkei in Japan jumped 1.9 percent after the Bank of Japan announced moves intended to stimulate the economy and inflation but did not move to push interest rates further into negative territory.

in New York trade, petroleum-linked equities, including Dow members ExxonMobil and Chevron, rose on higher oil prices. Adobe Systems shot up 6.7 percent after reporting third-quarter net income of $270.8 million based in part on gains in subscriptions for its cloud-based programs.

Wells Fargo fell 1.4 percent as chief executive John Stumpf was widely panned over his performance in a contentious Senate hearing over the bank's bogus accounts scandal. Target rose 1.3 percent on news the big-box retailer authorized a new $5 billion share repurchase program.