02:19 PM EDT, 10/28/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday as traders weighed the latest corporate earnings, while the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting got underway.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite were up 0.7% each at 47,872.3 and 23,913.2, respectively, after midday Tuesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 6,892.3. On Monday, the three indexes closed at new all-time highs.

Among sectors, technology paced the gainers intraday Tuesday, while real estate saw the biggest drop.

In company news, PayPal ( PYPL ) raised its full-year earnings outlook and announced a partnership with Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed (MSFT) OpenAI to integrate its payment system within ChatGPT. PayPal ( PYPL ) shares were up 8.7%, among the best performers on the S&P 500, while Microsoft ( MSFT ) rose 2.1%, one of the top Dow gainers.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) was the third-best performer on the Dow, up 2.3%, after the health insurance giant raised its full-year earnings outlook as its third-quarter results surpassed analyst expectations.

Wayfair (W) shares surged nearly 24% after the online furniture retailer's third-quarter results came in stronger than Wall Street's estimates amid order momentum.

Visa (V), Booking Holdings ( BKNG ) , Mondelez International ( MDLZ ) and Electronic Arts ( EA ) are among the companies scheduled to report after the closing bell Tuesday.

Tech giants Microsoft ( MSFT ), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Meta Platform (META) are slated to report results Wednesday, followed by Apple ( AAPL ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) on Thursday.

US Treasury yields were mixed intraday Tuesday, with the 10-year rate down 1.6 basis point at 3.98% and the two-year rate little changed at 3.5%.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee kicked off its meeting Tuesday, with a decision on interest rates expected Wednesday. Markets widely forecast the FOMC to lower its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, following a similar move last month, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

"The (Fed) emphasized the September move as an insurance cut and those normally occur in pairs," Oxford Economics said in a Tuesday note. "The (US federal) government shutdown has also left the central bank in a fog about the labor market, fueling support for another cut rather than risk falling behind and having to cut more later."

The Senate was once again unable to pass a Republican-backed funding bill to end the shutdown, which is now into its 28th day, CBS News reported Tuesday.

The US agreed to a framework with Japan over the supply of rare earths, the White House said.

The US and China are expected to "come away with" a trade deal, US President Donald Trump reportedly said Monday ahead of his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in South Korea on Thursday.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1.8% at $60.18 a barrel intraday Tuesday. "Oil slumped amid uncertainty over Russia sanctions and potential (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies') plan to raise output," D.A. Davidson said in a client note.

In economic news, US consumer confidence fell 1 point sequentially to 94.6 in October, the Conference Board said. The consensus was for a 93.4 reading in a Bloomberg-compiled poll.

"All three components of the expectations index weakened somewhat," Stephanie Guichard, senior economist of global indicators at the Conference Board, said. "Consumers were a bit more pessimistic about future job availability and future business conditions, while optimism about future income retreated slightly."

Gold was down 1% at $3,979.10 per troy ounce, while silver rose 1.2% to $47.32 per ounce.