US STOCKS-Upbeat earnings lift Wall Street as focus shifts to Fed

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* Starbucks sees business 'steadily recovering', shares up
* Boeing falls after bigger-than-expected loss
* Advanced Micro Devices surges after revenue forecast raise
* Indexes up: Dow 0.39%, S&P 0.92%, Nasdaq 1.09%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday as a slew
of positive earnings updates and hopes for assurances of
continued support from the Federal Reserve overshadowed concerns
about next steps for the government's coronavirus relief plan.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O jumped 12.4% after the
chipmaker raised its full-year revenue forecast. Its shares were
among the top boosts to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
The Philadelphia chip index .SOX rose 1.8%.
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O climbed 4.1% after the coffee chain
said business was "steadily recovering" worldwide and it would
return to profitability in the current quarter. Of the 163 S&P 500 firms that have reported results, 79.1%
have surpassed a low bar of quarterly profit expectations,
according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Recent data pointed to a possible slowdown in business and
hiring as several U.S. states reimposed restrictions after a
spike in COVID-19 infections, while deaths in the country caused
by the disease surpassed 150,000 on Wednesday. Investors will keep a close watch on how the U.S. central
bank addresses these economic risks at the end of a two-day
policy meeting. The Fed's statement is expected at 2 p.m. ET
(1800 GMT), which will be followed by Chair Jerome Powell's
press conference. "The consensus would be that Fed remains accommodative until
we have a vaccine or a treatment for COVID-19, which would mean
they are going to continue to provide liquidity which has
essentially driven the market off the March low," said Nate
Fischer, chief investment strategist at Strategic Wealth
Partners in Cleveland.
Top Trump administration officials and Democratic
congressional leaders tried to narrow stark differences over
coronavirus aid on Wednesday, with no guarantees they can craft
a compromise before some unemployment benefits expire.
At 12:43 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 102.99 points, or 0.39%, at 26,482.27, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 29.70 points, or 0.92%, at 3,248.14. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 113.14 points, or 1.09%, at 10,515.23.
Ten of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher with technology
stocks providing the biggest boost to the S&P 500.
Boeing Co BA.N slipped 3.1% as it slashed production on
its widebody programs and reported a bigger-than-expected loss
due to the fallout from the pandemic. General Electric Co GE.N fell 4.7% as it reported a
wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter, but saw less
cash outflow than estimated. The chief executives of Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Facebook
Inc FB.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O and Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O
are set to face a congressional hearing on antitrust on
Wednesday, marking the first time appearing before lawmakers
together. All four companies are set to report results on Thursday.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 2.85-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.93-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 35 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 65 new highs and 12 new lows.