news/AAPL/2023.01.10/Wall St rises as Powell gives no clear comment on monetary policy outlook.txt

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)*Powell steers clear of monetary policy outlook*Microsoft up on report of investment talks*Boeing down on report of rating downgrade*Indexes up: Dow 0.33%, S&P 0.42%, Nasdaq 0.70%Jan 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged
higher on Tuesday, boosted by gains in Microsoft and Amazon, as
investors assessed commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell that steered clear of the monetary policy outlook.Microsoft Corp rose 1.2% after a report stated the
software company was in talks to invest $10 bln in ChatGPT
creator OpenAI.The gains pushed up the S&P 500 information technology
sector 0.3%, while a 1.6% rise in Amazon boosted the
consumer discretionary sector.Boeing Co dipped 1.3%, pressuring the Dow Jones
, on a report that Morgan Stanley downgraded the U.S.
planemaker's rating to "equal weight" from "overweight".The  U.S. central bank's independence from political
influence is central to its ability to battle inflation, Powell
said on Tuesday.Powell's remarks failed to assuage investors rattled by
remarks from two other Federal Reserve policymakers on Monday.The comments had dampened hopes that inflation in the United
States had peaked and the Fed may soon signal an end to its rate
hiking cycle, bolstered by data last week that showed a
moderation in wage increases."He (Powell) hasn't disrupted the market in any way and the
fact that he stresses the need for political independence while
tackling inflation, that's a definite positive for the markets,"
said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities, New York."But he has not touched upon or given hints about what the
Fed is going do in the future on rates."Money market bets of a 25-bps hike to in the Fed's upcoming
policy meeting were unchanged at 75%, with the terminal rate
seen slightly below 5% by June.Investors are now keenly awaiting the U.S. Labor
Department's consumer prices report on Thursday. It is expected
to show some moderation in year-on-year consumer prices in
December.The Fed's aggressive monetary policy tightening to curb
decades-high inflation hammered U.S. equities in 2022, with the
three main indexes logging their steepest annual declines since
2008.At 10:18 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
was up 111.74 points, or 0.33%, at 33,629.39, the S&P 500
was up 16.52 points, or 0.42%, at 3,908.61, and the Nasdaq
Composite was up 74.50 points, or 0.70%, at 10,710.15.Broadcom Inc fell 3.3% on a report that Apple Inc
plans to replace the former's chip from its devices
with an in-house design in 2025.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.32-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.75-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.The S&P index recorded 1 new 52-week high and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 27 new highs and 14 new lows.
(Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Amruta Khandekar ; Editing by
Shinjini Ganguli)