Stocks rose higher Wednesday as market participants traded ahead of the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision due out in the afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 280 points, while the S&P 500 Index and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added about 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.43% or +24.37 points to 5,631.28

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.70% or +284.97 points to 41,113.97

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.27% or +48.50 points to 17,738.16

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, a move widely expected by Wall Street, as policymakers remain cautious following President Donald Trump's trade policies and their broader impacts on macroeconomic conditions. The Federal Open Market Committee's key overnight borrowing rate range has remained between 4.25% to 4.50% since December.

"Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further," policymakers said in a post-meeting statement. "The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen."

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that negotiations with key U.S. trade partners could have a material impact on the economy, as Trump's so-called "reciprocal" tariffs were higher than the majority of economists expectations.

"It seems to be we're entering a new phase where the administration is beginning talks with a number of our important trading partners and that has the potential to change the picture materially - or not," Powell said in post-meeting remarks. "It's going to be very important how that shakes out."

"There's just so much that we don't know, I think, and we're in a good position to wait and see ... Our policy is well positioned. The costs of waiting to see further are fairly low," Powell added. "I can't tell you how long it will take, but for now, it does seem like it's a fairly clear decision for us to wait and see and watch."

Market sentiment was lifted Wednesday following Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet representatives from the People's Republic of China in Switzerland this weekend to begin trade negotiations between the two nations, the department announced late Tuesday. Bessent stated he plans for the talks to "work towards rebalancing the international economic system" to better serve U.S. interests.

The long awaited meeting between Washington and Beijing signals is a major development towards a potential trade agreement since Trump issued a barrage of levies on key trading partners in early April. Bessent told Fox News' "Ingraham Angle" following the announcement on Tuesday that he sees these talks as more "about de-escalation" than "the big trade deal."

"We've got to de-escalate, before we can move forward," Bessent said.

On the Earnings Front:

Disney (DIS  ) shares jumped over 10% on Wednesday after the entertainment giant posted strong fiscal second-quarter earnings -- driven by better-than-expected Disney+ subscriber growth. The company also raised its full-year guidance and separately announced the development of a new theme park and resort in Abu Dhabi. Disney now expects full-year earnings per share of $5.75, an increase of 16% year-over-year.

The company reported a 1.4 million increase in subscriptions for its streaming platform, brining its global total subscriber base to 126 million. That subscriber growth, and an increase in its price, led to Disney's quarterly direct-to-consumer business revenue climbing 8% to $6.12 billion.

Separately, Disney announced a new agreement with immersive experiences company Miral to create a park and resort on Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates. The development is not part of the $60 billion Disney pledged to invest in its theme parks over the next decade.

"As our seventh theme park destination, it will rise from this land in spectacular fashion, blending contemporary architecture with cutting edge technology to offer guests deeply immersive entertainment experiences in unique and modern ways," CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.

Novo Nordisk (NVO  ) shares also climber higher Wednesday after the Danish pharmaceutical giant sales of its weight loss injection Wegovy were shown to be improving in the second half of the year. The company, however, reported lower-than-expected first-quarter sales of the obesity drug and cut its full-year sales outlook as competitors impact its U.S. market share.

"Following the U.S. FDA removal of semaglutide injectables from the FDA drug shortage list, the sales outlook assumes a reduction in patients on compounded GLP-1 treatment during the second half of 2025," the company said. For its full-year 2025, Novo expects sales growth of 13% to 21% at constant exchange rates, below its previous guidance range of 16% to 24%.

Uber Technologies (UBER  ) reported mixed first-quarter earnings results Wednesday, missing revenue expectations even as its monthly user base and trips booked rose 14% and 18% year-over-year, respectively. The ride-hailing company now expects gross bookings to come in between $45.75 billion and $47.25 billion in its current quarter, coming mostly in-line with analyst expectations.

In the News:

Alphabet (GOOGL  ) (GOOG  ) shares came under pressure on Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported Apple (AAPL  ) SVP of Services Eddy Cue said artificial intelligence search engines will eventually replace other search engines like Google.

Cue disclosed during testimony in the U.S. Justice Department's lawsuit against Alphabet that searches on Safari fell for the first time in April, and that Apple could eventually add AI search providers like OpenAI, Perplexity AI and Anthropic as options in the web browser.

"There's enough money now, enough large players, that I don't see how it doesn't happen, Cue said, quoted by Bloomberg.