NEW YORK, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks perked up on Tuesday, approaching fresh record highs as investors digested a wave of corporate earnings and looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting for signals on interest rate cuts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 161.78 points, or 0.34 percent, to 47,706.37. The S&P 500 added 15.73 points, or 0.23 percent, to 6,890.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 190.04 points, or 0.8 percent, to 23,827.49.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with real estate and utilities leading the laggards by losing 2.22 percent and 1.66 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, technology and consumer discretionary led the gainers by going up 1.64 percent and 0.31 percent, respectively.
The Fed is widely expected to cut its benchmark rate for a second time this year on Wednesday.
"Obviously, valuations have been fairly elevated by historical standards, and we've probably gotten about all the help we're going to get out of the Fed without something bad (going) wrong," Mike Dickson of Horizon Investments said.
Microsoft rose about 2 percent ahead of its earnings report due after the bell on Wednesday. The stock surpassed 4 trillion U.S. dollars in market value on Tuesday.
So far, the earnings season has started on a strong note, with about one-third of S&P 500 companies having reported, and 83 percent exceeding analysts' expectations, according to FactSet data.
