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New York - 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% after reporting a 3.3% rise in fiscal first-quarter earnings to $715m in results that bested expectations.
Dow member Microsoft gained 1.2% as it increased its dividend and announced a new share repurchase program of up to $40bn.
About 25 minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at 18 214.13.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 2 150.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 05% 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% 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% after reporting third-quarter net income of $270.8m based in part on gains in subscriptions for its cloud-based programs.
Wells Fargo fell 1.4% 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% on news the big-box retailer authorized a new $5bn share repurchase programme.
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