Wall Street Closes Higher as Fed Holds Rates; Investors Eye December Hike and Earnings

U.S. stocks ended higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left its key policy rate unchanged as expected, with investors now pricing an 85.0% chance of a 25-basis-point hike at the December meeting, up from 78.3% on Tuesday, according to CME's FedWatch tool. The Fed upgraded its economic assessment while noting inflation "remains elevated." Chair Kevin Warsh said the central bank is willing and ready to act. "The Fed didn't throw any curveballs," said Ryan Detrick of Carson Group. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 97.53 points, or 0.19%, to 52,475.10; the S&P 500 gained 21.37 points, or 0.28%, to 7,743.97; and the Nasdaq Composite added 72.04 points, or 0.27%, to 26,549.85. Micron Technology jumped 5.9% after SK Hynix reported a more than sevenfold quarterly profit increase; SK Hynix's U.S. shares rose 13.3%. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index gained 1.8%. Vertiv surged 16.5% on raised guidance, while Robinhood fell 3.3% and Boston Scientific dropped 5.8%.