Stocks Rise Ahead Of Fed Meeting, Oil Jumps To $70: What's Moving Markets Wednesday?

U.S. stocks inched higher midday Wednesday, as investors digested upbeat economic data while keeping an optimistic tone ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision and a wave of key tech earnings due after the bell.

• The QQQ ETF is on track for a fourth consecutive monthly gain. See the chart here.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Nasdaq added 0.4%, and the Dow Jones hovered near the flatline. Small-cap stocks outperformed, with the Russell 2000 up 0.6%.

Markets widely expect the Federal Reserve to keep rates steady at 4.25%-4.50%, but with two policymakers already showing preference for a cut, the decision could mark the most divided vote since 1993.

On the trade front, former President Donald Trump announced a new 25% tariff on Indian imports, set to take effect Aug. 1.

Advance GDP data showed the U.S. economy grew at an annualized 3.0% in the second quarter of 2025, a sharp rebound from the previous quarter's 0.5% contraction and well above the 2.4% consensus, powered by strong consumer spending and a decline in imports.

In the labor market, private payrolls rose by 104,000 in July, the strongest gain since March and a solid beat on the 75,000 forecast—reversing a contraction in June.

Commodities were in focus as WTI crude extended its rally, surging 1.5% on the day to hit $70 a barrel, driven by geopolitical tensions following Trump's new 10-day ultimatum to Russia over peace talks with Ukraine. The three-day gain now totals over 8%.

Gold slipped 1% to $3,290 per ounce as the U.S. dollar strengthened on the back of robust economic data. Meanwhile, Bitcoin BTC/USD held steady around $118,000.

Wednesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO inched 0.1% higher to $584.81.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA flattened at $446.50.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ rose 0.3% to $569.07.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM rallied 0.7% to $224.19.
• The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU outperformed, up 1%; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE lagged, down 1%.

Wednesday’s Stock Movers

• Coinbase Global Inc. COIN climbed 2.3%, poised to break a seven-day losing streak, after JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM announced a partnership with the crypto exchange that will allow Chase credit card holders to fund their Coinbase wallets and purchase cryptocurrencies.
• Stocks moving on earnings reports included:
  • Visa Inc. V up 0.8%
  • UnitedHealth Group Incorporated UNH flat
  • Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG up 1.2%
  • Automatic Data Processing, Inc. ADP up 1.9%
  • Starbucks Corporation SBUX up 0.7%
  • Altria Group, Inc. MO up 2.0%
  • Trane Technologies plc TT down 7.8%
  • Mondelez International, Inc. MDLZ down 6.0%
  • Illinois Tool Works Inc. ITW down 2.0%
  • Republic Services, Inc. RSG down 5.0%
  • American Electric Power Company, Inc. AEP up 3.8%
  • Vertiv Holdings Co VRT up 1.6%
  • Garmin Ltd. GRMN down 5.5%
  • Electronic Arts Inc. EA up 7.2%
  • Entergy Corporation ETR up 3.2%
  • Verisk Analytics, Inc. VRSK down 4.8%
  • The Hershey Company HSY up 2.3%
  • WEC Energy Group, Inc. WEC up 0.5%
  • Tradeweb Markets Inc. TW up 4.9%
  • GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. GEHC down 4.9%
  • Arch Capital Group Ltd. ACGL down 1.0%
  • Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. ODFL down 8.8%
  • Humana Inc. HUM up 7.4%
  • Expand Energy Corporation EXPN up 5.1%
  • Smurfit Westrock plc SMUR down 2.1%
  • PPG Industries, Inc. PPG down 4.9%
  • Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited TEVA up 3.6%
  • Essex Property Trust, Inc. ESS down 4.7%
  • Teradyne, Inc. TER up 21.2%
  • Fortive Corporation FTV up 0.9%

Stocks slated to report earnings after the close:

• Albemarle Corporation ALB
• American Water Works Company, Inc. AWK
• Antero Resources Corporation AR
• AvalonBay Communities, Inc. AVB
• Bausch Health Companies Inc. BHC
• C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. CHRW
• Carvana Co. CVNA
• Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation CTSH
• Confluent, Inc. CFLT
• DexCom, Inc. DXCM
• eBay Inc. EBAY
• Equinix, Inc. EQIX
• Everest Group, Ltd. EG
• Extra Space Storage Inc. EXR
• F5, Inc. FFIV
• Fair Isaac Corporation FICO
• FirstEnergy Corp. FE
• Ford Motor Company F
• GFL Environmental Inc. GFL
• Guardant Health, Inc. GH
• Hologic, Inc. HOLX
• Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. HST
• Independence Realty Trust, Inc. IRT
• Invitation Homes Inc. INVH
• Lam Research Corporation LRCX
• Meta Platforms, Inc. META
• MGM Resorts International MGM
• Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. MAA
• Microsoft Corporation MSFT
• Public Storage PSA
• Prudential Financial, Inc. PRU
• PTC Inc. PTC
• QUALCOMM Incorporated QCOM
• Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. SFM
• The Allstate Corporation ALL
• Tyler Technologies, Inc. TYL
• UDR, Inc. UDR
• Ventas, Inc. VTR
• VICI Properties Inc. VICI
• Western Digital Corporation WDC

Now Read

• US Economy Roars Back With 3% Growth, Handing Trump A Timely Victory
  

Image: Shutterstock