Tuesday's early afternoon trade: stocks climb on hopes of Fed status quo

US stocks climbed on Tuesday, led by growth-oriented sectors, as investors took an optimistic view that the Federal Reserve will temper recent statements pointing to the future reduction of US monetary support. Shares of industrial, technology and consumer discretionary companies rallied on expectations that the Fed will maintain its current level of bond purchases when it issues its policy statement Wednesday.
General Electric gained 1.9 percent to $24.21 and was the fourth most actively traded stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 126.14 points or 0.83 percent, to 15,305.99, the S&P 500 gained 11.37 points or 0.69 percent, to 1,650.41 and the Nasdaq Composite added 28.68 points or 0.83 percent, to 3,480.81.