Dow opens 200 points higher on hopes of slowing rate hikes

Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Tuesday, with Nasdaq in the lead, as investors hoped the U.S. Federal Reserve may tone down its aggressive approach on interest rate hikes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 212 points, or 0.65%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively.

Market focus is now squarely on the Fed's two-day policy meeting after all the three main indexes notched solid monthly gains in October, supported by better-than-expected earnings and hopes of the U.S. central bank easing the pace of its monetary policy tightening.


Traders widely expect the Fed to hike interest rates by 75 basis points for a fourth time, but are watching for signals that may suggest a downshift to a smaller rate hike in December.