- Stocks rise strongly ahead of FOMC minutes
- Dow and S&P close to all-time highs
- Blackberry jumps after Morgan Stanley upgrade

Dow Jones: 0.52%
NASDAQ: 0.56%
S&P 500: 0.61%

Stocks on Wall Street started the day strongly on Wednesday as traders awaited the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later this afternoon.

The Dow Jones hit a new high of 14,545 in morning trade, before pulling back slightly. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is also once again just a few points off its all-time closing high of 1,565.15, regaining lost ground over the last few days after developments in Cyprus dampened the mood.

Cypriot parliament last night voted to reject a €10bn bailout deal that included a tax on bank accounts. Though this outcome was widely expected, it raises the pressure on the government to come up with a 'plan B', or else face a default and subsequent exit from the Eurozone.

Lifting sentiment in New York were some reports that suggested that representatives from both major parties in the US Congress have reached an agreement to avert a 'shut-down' of the US federal government when existing money runs out at the end of the month.

FOMC meeting

No change is expected from the FOMC later today, despite concerns over the last few months that improving data in the labour market could prompt the central bank to scale back its quantitative easing (QE) programme, in which it buys $85bn of government bonds and mortgage-backed securities a month.

As such, traders will be looking for clues from Chairman Ben Bernanke as to whether he intends to change the Fed's stance on stimulus measures.

"This is hugely important for the markets given that it has been largely responsible for the rally in stocks over the last six months that has seen the Dow hit, and S&P coming within touching distance of, all-time highs," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.

Blackberry jumps after upgrade

Smart-phone maker BlackBerry was a high riser after Morgan Stanley raised its rating for the stock from 'underweight' to 'overweight' and doubled its target price from $10 to $20. The move comes ahead of the launch of BlackBerry's Z10 touchscreen phone later this week.

Graphics software manufacturer Adobe Systems was up strongly after reporting better-than-expected results. The share price surged to its highest price since 2008.

Shares of delivery group FedEx moved lower after cutting its full-year outlook and saying that it is to cut capacity to and from Asia.

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