US Stocks Open Higher Ahead Of Fed Decision, Dow Jumps 175 Points U.S. stocks traded higher this morning, with the Dow Jones gaining around 175 points on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. The country’s central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 bps at the meeting. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. Following the market opening Wednesday, the Dow traded up 0.57% to 30,881.09 while the NASDAQ rose 0.32% to 11,461.48. The SP 500 also rose, gaining, 0.60% to 3,878.89. Also check this: Market Volatility Increases Sharply Ahead Of Fed''s Rate Decision Leading and Lagging Sectors Utilities shares rose by 1.3% on Wednesday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Sunnova Energy International Inc. (NYSE: NOVA ), up 2% and American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR ) up 3%. In trading on Wednesday, communication services shares fell by 0.2%. Top Headline Existing home sales in the US fell 0.4% to an annual rate of 4.8 million in August, recording the lowest reading since May 2020, and compared to a revised 5.7% decline in the previous month.