US stock markets went up a little on Wednesday. This happened after the Federal Reserve kept its main interest rate the same, which many people thought would happen.

The S&P 500 index increased by 0.4%. Before this, it had been falling for two days, which stopped its nine-day period of going up. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also increased by 284 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite index went up by 0.3%.

Stock markets went up and down a lot during the day, with one main index, the Dow, increasing by 400 points. This happened because people hoped that the United States and China might start to make a trade agreement. Such a deal could help the world's economy. Currently, these two big countries are putting more taxes on each other's goods in a trade war. Many worry this could lead to a recession unless they allow easier trade.

There was hope for talks between the US and China in Switzerland, but it decreased after President Trump refused to lower tariffs on Chinese products before negotiations. China requires lower tariffs to start trade talks.

This uncertainty about trade taxes has caused big changes in the U.S. economy. For example, many companies imported goods quickly to avoid paying the taxes later. Despite these big changes and surveys showing Americans are more worried about the future, the central bank said the economy is still growing well now.

The head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell, said they can wait before changing interest rates. This is true even though President Trump wants faster cuts to help the economy.

Powell said, "There is a lot we don't know." Like many others, the Fed is waiting to see what really happens in Trump's trade disagreements and if his taxes on imported goods, which were stronger than expected, will work as planned.

This is especially true because the trade war seems to be entering a new stage, Powell said. Now, the US is talking more about trade with other countries.

The central bank also said it knows that risks to the economy are growing because of tariffs. These tariffs could make the job market weaker and cause prices to rise.

"If the big tax increases that have been announced continue, they will probably cause prices to rise, the economy to grow more slowly, and more people to lose their jobs," Powell said.

This could lead to a bad situation called "stagflation." This is when the economy isn't growing, but prices are still increasing a lot. It's a hard problem because the central bank doesn't have easy ways to fix it. If they lower interest rates to help the economy and create jobs, prices might go up even more. But if they raise interest rates, it would have the opposite effect.

Meanwhile, large American companies are still making bigger profits at the start of 2025 than experts predicted.

The Walt Disney Company's share price went up a lot, by 10.8%. This happened because their profit was much better than experts thought, they said they would make even more money in the future, and they got over a million new people to sign up for their streaming service.

However, companies are still saying that economic uncertainty makes it harder for them to predict their future finances.

Marvell Technology, a company that makes computer chips, saw its stock price go down by 8%. This happened because they moved their investor meeting from June to a time they haven't decided yet. They made this change because they are unsure about how the economy will be in the future.

Overall, the S&P 500 went up by 24.37 points to 5,631.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also increased by 284.97 points, reaching 41,113.97. The Nasdaq composite gained 48.50, ending at 17,738.16.

After the Fed's announcement, interest rates on government bonds went down. The rate for the 10-year bond dropped a little, from 4.30% to 4.27%.

Markets in Europe mostly went down, while markets in Asia went up. Stock markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai increased after China lowered interest rates and took other actions to help its economy and markets. This happened because higher taxes on Chinese products ordered by Trump affected the country’s exports.