US Stocks Rise Ahead of Fed Update     01/26 11:13

   Stocks gained ground in morning trading on Wall Street Wednesday as 
investors review a mostly solid round of earnings reports and await the Federal 
Reserve's latest policy statement.

   (AP) -- Stocks gained ground in morning trading on Wall Street Wednesday as 
investors review a mostly solid round of earnings reports and await the Federal 
Reserve's latest policy statement.

   The decisive move higher was a welcome relief following several days of 
volatile swings as investors try to gauge whether the Fed will succeed in its 
new effort to fight inflation. The central bank widely expected to continue 
drawing back its stimulus measures ahead of raising interest rates in the 
coming months. The Fed's latest statement will be released later Wednesday.

   The S&P 500 rose 1.6% as of 10:19 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average rose 372 points, or 1.1%, to 34,678 and the Nasdaq rose 2.2%.

   The gains pushed every major index into the green for the week.

   Technology stocks led the market higher. Microsoft rose 4.1% after reporting 
standout results for its latest quarter on solid demand for its cloud-computing 
services and work software. Chipmaker Texas Instruments rose 4.6% after giving 
investors a solid earnings report and financial forecast.

   Retailers, communications companies, banks and industrial firms also rose. 
Strong earnings reports and financial forecasts underpinned some of the gains. 
Specialty glassware Corning rose 13.5% after reporting strong financial results.

   Bond yields were steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 1.78% 
from late Tuesday.

   Several companies issued fresh warnings about supply chain problems crimping 
operations. Computer networking company F5 fell 12.5% after giving investors a 
disappointing revenue forecast as it faces supply chain constraints.

   Consumer products maker Kimberly-Clark fell 4.6% after giving investors a 
weak profit forecast and saying that it expects the supply chain disruption to 
persist into 2022.

   Pressure from inflation on businesses and consumers is what is driving the 
Fed to raise interest rates this year. There is some concern on Wall Street 
that Fed Chair Jerome Powell could suggest that the central bank will raise 
interest rates this year more than the four times that most economists 
currently expect.

   For nearly two years, investors had poured money into stocks, confident that 
the Federal Reserve would help keep share prices upright. With that support 
going away, markets have been hit with a bout of volatility. The S&P 500 is 
down 7.6% so far this year.

   Investors are also gauging the threat from COVID-19 and the omicron wave's 
impact on economic growth. The International Monetary Fund cited the omicron 
variant as the reason it downgraded its forecast for global economic growth 
this year.

   Wall Street is also carefully watching the potential conflict between Russia 
and Ukraine, which could push energy prices higher and force nations to focus 
on a war just as they are trying to focus on keeping the virus pandemic in 
check, along with economic growth.