LIVE MARKETS-S&P 500 briefly breaks 7,000 as tech climbs; Fed ahead

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S&P 500 BRIEFLY BREAKS 7,000 AS TECH CLIMBS; FED AHEAD

U.S. stocks are modestly higher in early trading, with the S&P 500 .SPX briefly going above 7,000 for the first time, and with tech shares rising following an upbeat forecast from Texas Instruments TXN.O, while investors await a rate decision from the Federal Reserve later today. The Dow .DJI is down slightly.

Analog chipmaker Texas Instruments shares are up more than 8% early after the company forecast first-quarter revenue and profit above Wall Street estimates.

Shares of Nvidia NVDA.O are up 1.8%, while an index of semiconductors .SOX is up 1.9%.

The Fed, in its statement due this afternoon, is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but investors will be keen to hear remarks from Chair Jerome Powell.

Other upbeat earnings reports from companies including Starbucks SBUX.O also bolstered the market.

But, after the closing bell, Meta Platforms META.O, Microsoft MSFT.O and Tesla TSLA.O are due to report quarterly results, the first of the so-called "Magnificent Seven" companies to release earnings reports.

Here is the early market snapshot:

(Caroline Valetkevitch)

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