By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi
Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 rose following a two-day slide, helped by a retreat in oil prices as investors held their breath for the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday.
Technology shares and chipmakers rose, while energy and financials were lower. Nvidia gained nearly 2% and was the top gainer on the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index.
The rate move, scheduled to be announced at 2 p.m. ET, will be crucial to sentiment at a time when
elevated Treasury yields, inflation and the escalating Middle East conflict have kept risk appetite in check.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's remarks will also be parsed for clues on the likely path for rates.
Traders see a nearly 91% chance of a rate increase, according to the CME FedWatch tool. But jitters about the decision persist.
Fed Chair Warsh was picked by U.S. President Donald Trump with the expectation that he would cut interest rates. If the central bank stands pat, it could throw its credibility into question, especially as Warsh has said he remains focused on taming price pressures, analysts say.
"We think the Fed is right to move now rather than wait, as it will be harder to hike in October due to proximity to midterms (election)," said Strategy Asset Managers CEO Tom Hulick.
At 11:46 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.73 points, or 0.01%, to 52,095.84, the S&P 500 gained 31.43 points, or 0.41%, to 7,617.13 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 202.30 points, or 0.78%, to 26,183.87.
"The market is incredibly resilient. It has every reason to fall in a meaningful way, and yet it isn't," said Adam Sarhan, director at MarketTerminal.com.
OIL PULLBACK OFFERS RELIEF
Oil prices dipped after reports that Saudi Arabia was offering additional crude cargoes via Oman eased concerns about the scale of Middle East supply disruptions.
Brent crude futures were down over 3% at $105.17 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell nearly 4% to $101.77.
The S&P 500 energy index was the worst-performing sector index, down 2.3%, with Exxon Mobil
The technology and industrials indexes led gains and were up 0.9% each. Meta and Tesla rose 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.
A joint call by top AI executives to slow down the development of the technology has clouded the outlook for the tech sector, although there is little clarity as yet on what such a slowdown would look like.
Intel jumped 5.6% after a report said South Korea's SK Hynix was in talks with the company about memory chip manufacturing in the U.S. for the first time. U.S.-listed shares of SK Hynix were up 2.5%.
IBM fell 3%. The company said Anderon, its chip unit, has signed a funding agreement with the U.S. government.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.74-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.42-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 39 new highs and 163 new lows.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das and Maju Samuel)
