Ahead of today's upcoming interest rate decision by the US Federal Reserve, the major US indices are able to record moderate gains. Investors expect the Fed to leave interest rates at their level for the second time in a row.

The current gains show the cautious optimism that prevails among investors. The technology-heavy Nasdaq is benefiting most from this, currently up around 0.60 %. The rise in blue chips is somewhat more restrained, but the Dow Jones is currently up almost 0.40 % and the S&P 500 almost 0.50 %.

That the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged is considered relatively certain before the FOMC meeting. However, there is uncertainty about what tone will be adopted in the published statement on the interest rate decision and at the subsequent press conference with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. In its statement after its last meeting, the Fed had not ruled out the possibility of another rate hike before the end of the year. However, it made this very dependent on the state of the US economy and the development of inflation in the US.

So market participants will be listening to every word in New York today. If the tone turns out to be more conciliatory today, the indices could at least moderately continue the recovery they have started. If the Fed maintains its hawkish tone, the lean period for investors is likely to continue for a while.