The stock market rose Tuesday as investors waited to find out when the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates.
Stocks flitted between gains and losses through most of the morning, then turned broadly higher in the afternoon on an increase in health care and utility stocks.
“The economy continues to improve in the U.S., and there’s still an accommodative Fed,” said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector research at the Schwab Center for Financial Research. “We think the bull market has further to run.”
The Fed has held a key short-term interest rate close to zero for more than five years, making it cheaper for companies and consumers to borrow and boosting corporate profits. That has helped push stocks higher. But investors widely expect the Fed to start raising rates in the middle of next year.
Investors may get a better sense of how soon after the central bank concludes a two-day meeting Wednesday. Fed Chair Janet Yellen could discuss the bank’s rate plans, as well as the outlook for employment and inflation, in a news conference in the afternoon.
Jonathan D. Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners, said there was talk among traders during the day about what the Fed might do, but little new insight. “There’s a lot of chatter, but nothing that’s real,” he said from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Until the closing minutes, the Dow Jones industrial average looked like it would rise to a record, but prices faltered at the end. Still the blue-chip index ended up gaining 100.83, its first triple-digit close since Aug. 18. The Dow closed at 17,131.97, a gain of 0.6 percent.
The Nasdaq composite rose 33.86 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,552.76. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 14.85 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,998.98.
Among the 10 sectors of the S&P 500, health care stocks gained the most, up 1.3 percent. Utilities and energy stocks followed, with a 1.2 percent gain each. Energy stocks were pushed higher by rising oil prices. Exxon Mobil increased 1.2 percent.
The price of benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.96 to close at $94.88 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, rose $1.17 to close at $99.05 in London.
