NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks climbed on Monday as Wall Street awaited a key decision by the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 197.26 points, or 0.64 percent, to 31,019.68. The S&P 500 increased 26.56 points, or 0.69 percent, to 3,899.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 86.62 points, or 0.76 percent, to 11,535.02.
Nine of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with materials and consumer discretionary up 1.63 percent and 1.34 percent, respectively, outpacing the rest. The health care and the real estate groups, however, dipped 0.54 percent and 0.21 percent, respectively.
Investors looked to the Fed as the U.S. central bank is set to commence its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday.
"When the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting concludes this Wednesday, we expect the Fed to ratchet up its inflation-fighting rhetoric by another notch or two," UBS analysts said Monday in a note.
"In addition to raising rates by 75 basis points, we expect the FOMC's economic projections to indicate more rate hikes, slower economic growth, and higher unemployment," they added.
For the week ending Friday, the Dow declined 4.1 percent, the S&P 500 lost 4.8 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped about 5.5 percent, amid concerns over the pace of central bank tightening. ■