Stock market today: Wall Street rises ahead of Fed announcement

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are rising Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear what the Federal Reserve will say in the afternoon about where interest rates may be heading.

The S&P 500 was up 0.7% in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 237 points, or 0.6%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher.

The relatively quiet trading is a respite following weeks of sharp and scary swings for the U.S. stock market. Uncertainty is high about how much pain President Donald Trump will allow the economy to endure in order to remake the system as he wants. He’s said he wants manufacturing jobs back in the United States and far fewer people working for the federal government.

Trump’s barrage of announcements on tariffs and other policies have created so much uncertainty that economists worry U.S. businesses and households may freeze and pull back on their spending.

If the economy gets too weak, the Fed could lower interest rates in order to give it a boost, as it has in so many prior downturns. It has plenty of room to cut, with its main interest rate sitting at a range between 4.25% and 4.50%.

But conditions may be more complicated for the Fed this time around. Besides goosing the economy, lowering rates would also push inflation upward, and worries are already high about inflation because of tariffs. The Fed does not have a good tool to fix what’s called “ stagflation,” where the economy is stagnating but inflation remains high.

Virtually all of Wall Street is expecting the Fed to announce no change to its main interest rate this afternoon, as it waits to see how conditions play out. For the moment, the job market seems to be relatively solid overall after the economy closed last year running at a solid pace.

What will be more important for investors is the set of forecasts the central bank will release after the meeting is over. That will show where Fed officials see interest rates, the economy and inflation heading in upcoming years.

The expectation among traders is that the Fed will cut rates at least two or three times by the end of 2025.

On Wall Street, Nvidia helped support the market after rising 1.4% to cut its loss for the year so far to 12.9%. It hosted an event Tuesday where it largely “did a nice job laying out the roadmap” and fighting back against speculation the artificial-intelligence industry is seeing a slowdown in demand for computing power, according to UBS analysts led by Timothy Arcuri.

Tesla also rose 2.7%, following two straight losses of roughly 5%. It’s still down 42.7% for 2025 so far. It's been struggling on worries that customers are turned off by CEO Elon Musk's leading efforts to slash spending by the U.S. government.

Big Tech has generally been at the center of the market’s recent sell-off, as stocks whose momentum had earlier seemed unstoppable have since dropped sharply following criticism they had simply grown too expensive.

On the losing side of Wall Street Wednesday was General Mills, which fell 2.3% despite reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The cereal and snack maker's revenue fell short of analysts' targets, in part because of a slowdown in sales for snacks. General Mills also cut financial forecasts for revenue and profit over its full fiscal year, partly because it expects “macroeconomic uncertainty” to continue to affect its customers.

In stock markets abroad, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% after the Bank of Japan held steady on its own interest rates, as was widely expected. Japan also reported a trade surplus for February, with exports rising more than 11% as manufacturers rushed to beat rising tariffs imposed by Trump.

Other indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.30% from 4.31% late Tuesday.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

People work on the options floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the options floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the options floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the options floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

An electronic board displays Jakarta composite index at Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

FILE - People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, March 6, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.

The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the union said in a statement issued Monday. “Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits.”

The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.

The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

“NYSNA’s leaders continue to double down on their $3.6 billion in reckless demands, including nearly 40% wage increases, and their troubling proposals like demanding that a nurse not be terminated if found to be compromised by drugs or alcohol while on the job," Montefiore spokesperson Joe Solmonese said Monday after the strike had started. "We remain resolute in our commitment to providing safe and seamless care, regardless of how long the strike may last.”

New York-Presbyterian accused the union of staging a strike to “create disruption,” but said in a statement that it has taken steps to ensure patients receive the care they need.

"We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognizes the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment,” the statement said.

The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.

The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.

Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.

The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.

The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.

Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”

“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.

State Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar support, saying "nurses put their lives on the line every day to keep New Yorkers healthy. They should never be forced to choose between their own safety, their patients’ well-being, and a fair contract.”

The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.

It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)