Microsoft was put more than 5 percent higher on the stock exchanges in New York on Wednesday. Investors seized the strong results of the technology group to buy more shares. The overall mood on Wall Street was also positive after the very erratic price swings in recent days.
Markets have been tense all week ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, which will be announced later in the day.
The US central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged for now, but investors hope for more clarity about when the Fed will raise interest rates. The Fed has already said it will raise interest rates several times this year to tackle soaring inflation. The central bank is expected to indicate that it can raise interest rates in March. Interest rates were cut sharply in 2020 to steer the economy through the corona crisis.
Shortly after opening, the Dow-Jones index rose 0.7 percent at 34,526 points. The broad S&P 500 rose 1.3 percent to 4407 points, and tech gauge Nasdaq gained 1.9 percent to 13,975 points.
There was also attention for toymakers Mattel and Hasbro. The former will regain the rights to make toys based on Disney’s Frozen films from next year. The maker of Barbies can also produce dolls of all kinds of Disney princesses such as Snow White, Cinderella and Belle (from Beauty and the Beast).
The rights were previously also in the hands of Mattel, but that company lost them to competitor Hasbro in 2016. Mattel shares gained more than 7 percent. Hasbro lost 0.3 percent in market value.