US stocks soar more than 1% as Fed meeting kicks off

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Major indexes on the US stock market soared more than 1% on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve's key monetary meeting began.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 368 points, or 1.09%, to end the day at 34,086.

The S&P 500 increased 58 points, or 1.46% to 4,076.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 190 points, or 1.67%, to 11,584.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, fell 2.7% to 19.39, while the 10-year US Treasury yield lost 0.9% to 3.518%.

The dollar index fell 0.2% to 102.07, while the euro added 0.2% to $1.0866 against the greenback.

Precious metals were in the green, with gold rising 0.3% to $1,928 per ounce and silver adding 0.5% to $23.72.

Crude oil prices were up 1.2% with global benchmark Brent crude at $85.57 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude at $79.10.

The Fed is expected to hike interest rates 25 basis points after its two-day meeting on Wednesday. That will be after it made rate hikes of 425 points on seven occasions last year to lower record inflation.