New York, Aug 30 (AP) Stocks rose on Wall Street Monday and remained near record highs set last week after investors welcomed an update from the Federal Reserve.

The central bank signaled that it will maintain low interest rates as the economy continues recovering from the pandemic. Markets have been choppy as investors tried to gauge how much and how quickly the Fed will ease its support.

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The S&P 500 rose 0.5per cent as of 11:30 a.m. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 34 points, or 0.1per cent, to 35,489 and the Nasdaq rose 0.8per cent.

Technology stocks, which benefit from low interest rates, did much of the heavy lifting for the broader market. Health care companies also had solid gains and helped lift the benchmark S&P 500.

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Bond yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.29per cent from 1.31per cent late Friday.

Energy prices were mixed as the the full impact of Hurricane Ida is still being assessed. The storm will likely take a toll on the energy, chemical and shipping industries that have major hubs along the Gulf Coast, but the impact on the overall U.S. economy should be modest so long as damage estimates don't rise sharply and refinery shutdowns are not prolonged, economists suggested.

Crude oil prices rose 0.1per cent, while natural gas prices slumped 3.1per cent as Colonial Pipeline shut down deliveries in the south until it can assess damage from the storm.

Deal news helped lift several stocks. Affirm soared 45.5per cent after the payments company announced a deal last week with Amazon to offer shoppers a buy-now-pay-later option that doesn't involve credit cards. Hill-Rom Holdings jumped 10.5per cent following reports that Baxter International is interested in buying the medical technology company.

Investors have several key economic reports to look forward to this week, including consumer confidence on Tuesday and the closely watched monthly employment survey from the Labor Department on Friday. Both could help investors better gauge the economic recovery's path as it faces some resistance from a surge in virus cases because of the more contagious delta variant. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)