U.S. stocks went up slightly on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates the same, as most people thought, but also said there were growing dangers for the U.S. economy.

The S&P 500 went up by 0.4%, stopping two days of losses after nine days of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also went up by 284 points, which is 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite increased by 0.3%.

Stock markets went up and down a lot during the day, and the Dow went up by 400 points for a short time. This happened because people hoped the US and China might start to agree on trade, which could help the world economy. The two biggest economies have been putting higher taxes on each other's products in a trade war. People are worried this could lead to a recession if they don't allow trade to happen more easily.

News of a meeting between US and Chinese leaders this weekend in Switzerland created hope, but this feeling decreased after President Donald Trump announced he would not lower his high taxes on Chinese products before talks. China has stated that lowering these taxes is necessary for trade discussions to happen, and the planned meetings aim to help start these discussions.

The economy has been changing a lot because of unclear rules about taxes on imports, with people buying a lot from other countries quickly before new taxes might start. Even though this is happening, and people feel less hopeful about the future, the central bank said the economy is still doing well for now.

Jerome Powell, the head of the central bank, said they can wait before changing interest rates, even though Trump wants them to lower rates faster to help the economy.

"There's a lot that we don't know," Powell said. Like others, the Fed is waiting to see what will happen with Trump's trade disagreements and if his tariffs, which were stronger than expected, will have the effects that some people think.

Powell said this is especially true because the trade war seems to be starting "a new period," and the United States is having more trade talks with other countries.

The Fed also said it knows that tariffs are causing more risks for the economy. These risks could make the job market weaker and cause prices to go up.

Powell said that if the big increases in tariffs continue, they will probably cause prices to go up, the economy to grow more slowly, and more people to lose their jobs.

This could lead to a very bad situation for the central bank called "stagflation." This is when the economy stops growing, but prices keep going up. People don't like this because the central bank doesn't have good 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 making bigger profits at the start of 2025 than experts predicted.

The Walt Disney Company's shares increased by 10.8% because their profit was much better than expected. They also said they think their profit will be even higher in the future, and they gained over a million new streaming customers.

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

The price of shares for the chip company Marvell Technology went down by 8% because they changed the date of their meeting for investors. They did this because they are not sure about the future of the economy.

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

In the bond market, interest rates on government bonds decreased after the central bank's announcement. The rate on the 10-year government bond slightly decreased to 4.27% from 4.30% late Tuesday.

In Europe, most markets went down, but in Asia, markets went up. In Hong Kong, indexes increased by 0.1%, and in Shanghai, they increased by 0.8%. This happened after China reduced interest rates and took other steps to help its economy and markets. These measures were needed because higher taxes on Chinese exports, ordered by Trump, were harming the country.