$APH

Stocks Mostly Up Pre-Bell Ahead of Fed Rate Decision, Big Tech Earnings

The main US stock measures were mostly trending higher in Wednesday's premarket activity as traders await a major policy decision by the Federal Reserve and the latest quarterly results of two of the largest technology companies.The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% before the opening bell, while the Nasdaq declined 0.1%. The S&P 500 and the Dow finished Tuesday trading in the green, with the latter recording its third consecutive day of gains, while the Nasdaq closed lower for the fifth straight session.The Fed's monetary policy committee will announce its latest decision on interest rates at 2 pm ET. The probability of the central bank leaving its benchmark lending rate unchanged stood at about 66% on Wednesday, with the remaining odds in favor of a quarter-percentage-point increase, according to the CME FedWatch tool.Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is expected to hold a press conference at 2:30 pm."The doves are optimistic that inflation could cool further into year-end as the impact of tariffs rolls off and energy prices stabilize," Stifel said in a report Tuesday. "The recent rise in tensions overseas, however, coupled with (artificial intelligence)-sector price pressures suggest further upside inflationary risks remain, shifting the pendulum back into the hawk's camp."Treasury yields were up in premarket action, with the two-year rate increasing 2.9 basis points to 4.31% and the 10-year rate adding 1.6 basis points to 4.62%.Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched multiple ballistic missiles in "an attempted surprise attack" on US forces based in the Middle East, the US Central Command said in a Tuesday post on the X platform. "All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted," according to CENTCOM.In a separate statement, CENTCOM said it launched joint strikes with the Saudi Arabian armed forces against "Iran-aligned terrorists" in Iraq on Tuesday.West Texas Intermediate crude oil inclined 3.7% to $82.03 a barrel before the open, while Brent advanced 3.7% to $87.16.Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta Platforms (META) are scheduled to release their latest financial results after the markets close, along with Arm Holdings (ARM), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Starbucks (SBUX).Procter & Gamble (PG), Amphenol (APH), General Dynamics (GD), Johnson Controls (JCI), Boston Scientific (BSX), Humana (HUM) and GE HealthCare Technologies (GEHC) post their earnings before the bell, among others.Shares of Visa (V) decreased 0.8% pre-bell after the payments company reported its fiscal third-quarter results. Ford Motor (F) gained 4.3% as the automaker lifted its full-year core profit outlook. Lucid Group (LCID) was down 0.8% following a 21% jump at the close of Tuesday as Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud disclosed a 5% stake in the company.Wednesday's economic calendar also has the weekly mortgage applications bulletin at 7 am, followed by the EIA domestic petroleum inventories report at 10:30 am.Gold slipped 0.2% to $4,032 per troy ounce, while bitcoin rose 1.4% to $64,588.