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* Fed leaves rates unchanged, promised more support
* 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 0.4%, S&P 1.02%, Nasdaq 1.2%
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to late afternoon; new byline, adds NEW YORK dateline)
By Sinéad Carew
New York, July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks added to gains on
Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve repeated a pledge to
use its "full range of tools" to support the economy for as long
as it takes to recover from fallout of the pandemic.
At the end of its two-day policy meeting the Fed said it
maintained its interest rate target range until it is confident
the economy has weathered the virus and is on track to achieve
its maximum employment and price stability goals. "This was pretty much as expected. The key statement will be
in September when they give some forward guidance,” said Stan
Shipley, Evercore ISI macro research analyst in New York.
Wall Street's major indexes were already higher before the
Fed commentary, on the eve of scheduled earnings reports from
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Facebook Inc FB.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O
and Alphabet's Google GOOGL.O . The chief executives of all
four companies also faced a congressional hearing on antitrust
issues. "You'll often see an uptick in those shares ahead of
earnings and if they disappoint then they tend to sell off,"
said Shawn Snyder, head of investment strategy at Citi Personal
Wealth Management.
At 2:30 p.m. ET (1830 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI rose 105.68 points, or 0.4%, to 26,484.96, the S&P 500
.SPX gained 32.98 points, or 1.02%, to 3,251.42 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 124.98 points, or 1.2%, to 10,527.07.
All 11 major S&P sectors were higher with financial and
technology stocks leading the percentage gainers.
Investors were also focused on contentious negotiations in
Washington around what should go into government's next
coronavirus relief plan days before enhanced unemployment
benefits were set to expire. On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he did not
support everything in a Senate Republican proposal but would not
elaborate. Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O shares were up 12.6%
after the chipmaker raised its full-year revenue forecast and
the Philadelphia chip index .SOX rose 2%.
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O climbed 4% after the coffee chain
said business was "steadily recovering" worldwide and it would
report a profit in the current quarter. Of the 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. Boeing Co BA.N slipped 2.6% as it slashed production on
its widebody programs and reported a bigger-than-expected loss
due to the fallout from the pandemic.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
3.18-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.92-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 73 new highs and 14 new lows.