(Updates with index/price moves and company/economic/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)
US equity indexes rose as mega-cap chipmakers perked up and most government bond yields fell after the Federal Reserve left monetary policy unchanged for October.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 7,743.98, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 52,475.10, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3% to 26,549.85. All but three sectors declined, with energy and technology topping the gainers. Real estate, consumer staples, and utilities declined.
Of the 10 top-performing stocks in a category with market capitalization exceeding $200 billion each, all were technology firms and mainly from the semiconductor industry, according to data compiled by Finviz. SK Hynix (SKHY) led the mega-caps, with shares soaring more than 13% after reporting blowout Q3 earnings and revenue, and unveiling plans for 100 trillion South Korean won ($75.45 billion) in shareholder returns.
The iShares PHLX Semiconductor Exchange Traded Fund, which has about $48.43 billion in assets under management, rose 1.75%.
The Federal Open Market Committee maintained the target rate for federal funds at 3.75% to 4.00%, saying it would like more information before acting, an FOMC statement Wednesday afternoon showed. Dissents came from Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, who both preferred a 25-basis-point rate increase at this meeting.
The Fed statement described economic activity as strong and the labor market as stable, with a slightly more hawkish tone, as activity has been described as "solid" in all the previous statements this year, according to a Morgan Stanley note.
The main change was a sentence retaining the tightening bias, noting that "the accumulation of more information will help the [Federal Open Market] Committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee's 2 percent goal," the research note said. This suggests the Fed may not be done tightening and future hikes will depend on incoming data, the note said.
Most US Treasury yields fell. The two-year yield declined 4.2 basis points to 4.70%, after trading higher earlier in the session. The 10-year rate advanced 2.2 basis points to 5.02%, and the 30-year yield climbed 3.9 basis points to 5.34%.
The US has asked several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign after the midterm elections, people briefed on the conversations told The Wall Street Journal. President Donald Trump said "anything is possible" when reporters asked about a possible attack on Iran after the US midterms, Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern broadcaster, reported.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said any Israeli "military misadventure" in the Gulf region could have a "devastating impact" on global energy markets, Al Jazeera reported.
Meanwhile, Qatari mediators offered Iran a new draft deal to end the war with the US and Israel, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, but a senior Iranian official said Doha had only put forward unacceptable ideas that did not amount to an offer.
The front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract jumped 1.6% to $101.48 per barrel, and global benchmark Brent edged up less than 0.1% to $113.93 per barrel.
Gold futures slipped 0.5% to $4,053.9, and silver futures dropped 1.6% to $53.64.
