By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The S&P 500 rallied Wednesday as Microsoft-led a resurgence in tech ahead of the Federal Reserve decision later today.
The S&P 500 rose 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%, and the Nasdaq gained 2.3%.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up more than 4% after the tech giant delivered an optimistic outlook on revenue following better-than-expected Q2 results.
For the third-quarter, Microsoft guided revenue between $48.5 billion and $49.3 billion, compared with Wall Street estimates for $48.9 billion.
“Microsoft's cloud guidance was stronger than the Street and when factoring in F/X headwinds we would characterize this as a blowout guide in terms of how investors will digest these numbers” Wedbush said in a note.
The bullish results from the Microsoft helped steady sentiment on growth sectors of the market including consumer discretionary following days of selling.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose more than 4% ahead of its quarterly results due after the market closes. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which is set to report quarterly results on Thursday, was up 2%.
Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), down 3%, failed to join in on the broader market melt up after the aircraft maker reported a wider than expected loss in Q4 and revenue fell short of estimates as the delay deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner program hurt performance.
The sea of green on Wall Street comes ahead of the Federal Reserve monetary policy update later today, which will be followed up by a press conference from Fed chairman Jerome Powell.
The Fed is expected to lay out the carpet for a March rate hike, and signal that it is considering running down assets from its balance sheet in an effort to fight inflation.