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Indexes up: Dow 0.18%, S&P 500 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.26%

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Circle gains as US Senate passes stablecoin bill

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Nucor ( NUE ) rises after it forecast Q2 profit above estimates

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Fed's policy decision due at 02:00 p.m. ET

(Updates after markets open)

By Kanchana Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta

June 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes ticked up

on Wednesday, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's

monetary policy decision, while the Israel-Iran attacks entered

the sixth day.

Investors will closely monitor Fed Chair Jerome Powell's

comments to gauge how he plans to combat the risk of rising

prices, which remains a dominant concern for the central bank.

The Fed is expected to leave rates unchanged at its meeting,

scheduled later in the day.

"We're still at the beginning stages of feeling that real

income shock from higher tariffs in the United States, and the

uncertainty effect builds up over time," said Simon Dangoor,

head of fixed income macro strategies at Goldman Sachs Asset

Management.

"So I think the next couple of months of data is going to be

really key about where we go from here."

Ahead of the monetary policy decision, money market moves

show traders are pricing in about 46 basis points of rate cuts

by the end of 2025, with a 55% chance of a 25-bps rate cut in

September, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Following strong monthly equity trading in May, the

benchmark S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq were close

to record peaks before the ongoing conflict in the Middle East

made investors risk averse.

The S&P 500 index stood 2.5% below its record level, and the

tech-heavy Nasdaq remained 3.3% lower.

Investors have been anxious over the possibility of a more

direct U.S. military involvement in the Israel-Iran aerial war.

A source familiar with internal discussions said U.S.

President Donald Trump and his team were considering a number of

options, which included joining Israel in strikes against

Iranian nuclear sites.

At 09:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 73.93 points, or 0.18%, to 42,289.73, the S&P 500

gained 13.90 points, or 0.23%, to 5,996.62 and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 49.31 points, or 0.26%, to 19,571.01.

Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sub-sectors rose. Energy

and consumer discretionary stocks gained 0.6% each,

while healthcare stocks declined 0.4%.

Tesla gained 1.8%.

Shares of networking and custom AI chipmaker Marvell

Technology ( MRVL ) hit a three-month high and were last up

8.7%.

Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle Internet ( CRCL ) rose

6.2% after the U.S. Senate passed a bill to create a regulatory

framework for dollar-pegged cryptocurrency tokens known as

stablecoins.

Scholar Rock ( SRRK ) rose 17.4% after the drugmaker said

its experimental drug helped overweight patients preserve lean

mass in a mid-stage trial when used in combination with Eli

Lilly's ( LLY ) weight-loss treatment.

Steelmaker Nucor ( NUE ) rose 4.9% following a

second-quarter profit forecast that came above analysts'

estimates.

Initial jobless claims data on Wednesday showed the number

of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits

fell last week, but stayed at levels consistent with a further

loss of labor market momentum in June.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.63-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.3-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted four new 52-week highs and six new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 31 new highs and 53 new

lows.

(Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta in

Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)