US stocks rise ahead of Fed meeting

New York - Wall Street stocks opened higher on Tuesday shortly before the start of a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that will give an outlook on the likelihood of hiking interest rates this year.

The Fed is not expected to raise rates Wednesday as US economic data continues to show some signs of weakness and inflation remains weak. Many analysts expect an interest rate hike later this year, perhaps in December.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18 224.81, up 0.6%.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 2 149.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.4% to 5 257.16.