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General Mills ( GIS ) falls after cutting annual sales forecast

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Venture Global ( VG ) up after report Trump to clear exports from

Louisiana project

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Fed rate decision due at 2 p.m. ET

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Indexes up: Dow 0.63%, S&P 500 0.72%, Nasdaq 1.01%

(Updates with mid-session trading)

By Pranav Kashyap and Johann M Cherian

March 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes moved

higher on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's widely

anticipated monetary policy decision, at a time when worries

linger about trade policies and their impact on the economy.

The central bank is expected to leave its benchmark

overnight interest rate unchanged in the 4.25%-4.50% range, when

it releases its policy statement at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).

Traders see the Fed lowering borrowing costs by at least two

25-basis point cuts by December, with the first expected in

July, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Focus will be on new economic projections from policymakers

that will give an idea of how they feel U.S. President Donald

Trump's policies will affect economic growth, inflation and

unemployment.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak later in the

day.

"We see an increasing likelihood for a weaker payrolls

report over the next few months that ultimately leads to a Fed

rate cut at the June meeting," said Chris Senyek, chief

investment strategist, Wolfe Research.

"This combined with a highly uncertain tariff path leads us

to conclude that the near-term direction of the stock market

remains lower."

The European Union will tighten steel import quotas to

reduce inflows by a further 15% from April, a senior EU official

said, in a move aimed at preventing cheap steel flooding the

European market after Washington imposed new tariffs.

Boeing ( BA ) shares jumped 5.9% after the aircraft maker

said it doesn't see a near-term impact from tariffs.

Analysts have said that markets are now awaiting Trump's

announcements regarding reciprocal trade barriers on April 1.

At 11:39 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 260.14 points, or 0.63%, to 41,843.97, the S&P 500

gained 40.51 points, or 0.72%, to 5,654.94, and the Nasdaq

Composite gained 175.40 points, or 1.01%, to 17,679.52.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors rose, led by a 1.3% gain in

consumer discretionary stocks.

Tesla gained 4.7% after the EV maker logged

declines over the past two sessions.

U.S. stocks have come under severe selling pressure in the

recent weeks after a raft of economic indicators signaled a

cooling of the economy amid trade policy uncertainties.

Multiple companies have also lowered their annual forecasts,

the latest being General Mills ( GIS ). The Pillsbury owner

lowered its annual sales outlook, sending its shares down 2.3%.

The benchmark S&P 500 index confirmed last week it

was in correction following a 10% drop from its recent high. The

tech-heavy Nasdaq also confirmed a correction on March

6, while the blue-chip Dow is about 2% away from the correction

threshold.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) rose 1.4%. CEO Jensen Huang said on Tuesday

the company was well placed to navigate a shift in the

artificial intelligence industry.

Venture Global ( VG ) rose 3.7% on Wednesday after a report

said the Trump administration is set to grant the LNG producer

conditional approval to export natural gas from a proposed

Louisiana facility.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.68-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and a 1.72-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and no new low,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 21 new highs and 71 new

lows.