Stocks rose for a second straight day on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's meeting on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose nearly 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite both increased by 0.2%.
Investors are bracing for the central bank's latest monetary policy decision, which is expected to include hawkish measures to curb inflation at the expense of economic growth. The Fed is expected to raise rates by 50 basis points for the first time since 2000, and to layout the timing of its quantitative tightening measures.
Here's how the market settled on Tuesday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.48% or +20.11 points to 4,175.49
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.20% or +67.76 points to 33,129.26
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.22% or +27.74 points to 12,563.76
Southwest to offer free WiFi on some flights as it tests service upgrades:
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) will temporarily offer travelers free WiFi on certain flights as part of a test to bring faster in-flight internet, according to a memo sent to employees written by Tony Roach, vice president of customer experience and customer relations at Southwest, CNBC reports.
The airline has outfitted 40 of its Boeing 737s (NYSE: BA) with upgraded hardware for the service, CNBC reports. The free WiFi service will be available from May 4 through June 10.
"This trial will allow Customers to stream, browse, and engage on the internet at no cost just like other complimentary services," Roach wrote, quoted by CNBC. "Our goal is to evaluate how the new hardware improves performance while delivering a reliable internet experience used by a large volume of Customers.
Job openings reach record level in March:
U.S. job openings rose to a record level in March, as labor demand continues to exceed the level of available workers by 5.6 million, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
Job openings totaled 11.549 million in March, according to the institution's Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS), marking a fresh record for the data. In February, job openings totaled a revised 11.344 million.
The number of vacancies in the U.S. were little changed month-over-month at 6.7 million in March, while the number of quits posted a record high of 4.5 million--the quits rate was little changed at 3.0%.
Here's how benchmarks started trading after market open:
S&P 500 Index: +0.15% or +6.18 points to 4,161.56
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +0.25% or +82.06 points to 33,143.56
Nasdaq Composite Index: -0.18% or -22.02 points to 12,513.99