Nvidia tops $5 trillion in total value as Wall Street waits for a Fed announcement

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising toward more records on Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve later in the day about what it will do with interest rates.

The S&P 500 added 0.2% in midday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 263 points, or 0.6%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher. All three indexes are coming off their latest all-time high.

The bond market was also relatively steady as the countdown ticked to the announcement from the Fed. The widespread expectation is that it will announce the second cut of the year to its main interest rate in hopes of helping the slowing job market. More important will be whether the Fed gives hints about another cut to rates in December and beyond. Wall Street is banking on it.

In the meantime, the deluge continues of big U.S. companies reporting how much profit they made during the summer. The pressure is on to deliver growth because that’s one way they can quiet criticism that their stock prices have shot too high in recent months.

Caterpillar rallied 12.9% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Joe Creed said Caterpillar saw resilient demand, as customers bought more equipment, even with a “dynamic environment.”

Teradyne soared 19.4% after the company, which makes automated test equipment and advanced robotics systems, likewise reported a stronger profit than analysts expected. CEO Greg Smith credited strength related to artificial-intelligence applications and said “AI-related test demand remains robust.”

Nvidia, meanwhile, was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500 after rallying 3.1%. It became the first company valued at $5 trillion on Wall Street, just three months after the AI darling was the first to break through the $4 trillion barrier.

They helped offset a 40.4% plunge for Fiserv. The payments and financial technology company reported weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, slashed its profit forecast for the year and revamped its board of directors and leadership team. The stock is heading toward its worst day since it began trading in 1986.

Mondelez International fell 3.4%, even though it reported stronger results than analysts expected. The company, whose brands include Oreo cookies and Toblerone chocolate, has been dealing with record-high inflation for the cost of cocoa. It expects challenging conditions to continue in some markets, though it hopes that price increases are moderating for cocoa.