NEW YORK >>U.S. stocks rallied today as investors dissected the Federal Reserve’s interest rate guidance on Wednesday, a plethora of earnings and economic data.

All three indexes were higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq enjoying a healthy boost from chip stocks after Qualcomm reported quarterly sales and profit above analyst expectations.

Investors continue to parse Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s assurances on Wednesday that the central bank’s next policy move will be to lower its key policy rate, after it left rates unchanged at the end of its monthly meeting. However, he noted that recent strong inflation readings have suggested that the first of these rate cuts could be a long time in coming.

“The takeaway from yesterday is that the Fed’s bias is still a downward, hold steady or cut rates,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist at Murphy & Silvest in Elmhurst, Illinois. “They’re not willing to raise rates from here. They’ll keep rates steady, and any sign of economic weakness or lower inflation, they are going to be ready to jump on it and cut.”

Data released today included muted jobless claims, a drop in planned layoffs, a surge in quarterly labor costs and a sharp deceleration in productivity, all of which throws focus on Friday’s much anticipated April employment report.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) upgraded its global growth outlook, thanks in part to the U.S. economy’s resilience.

First-quarter earnings season has rounded the corner, with 373 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 77% have posted better-than-expected results, according to LSEG data.

“The common theme (this quarter) is those companies that are beating expectations aren’t really being rewarded as much as they have in prior quarters,” Nolte added. “And those that are missing expectations are getting shellacked.”

Among individual stocks, Qualcomm advanced 9.0% following its earnings beat.

Shares of used car platform Carvana surged 32.2% on its upbeat profit forecast.

But disappointing profit guidance sent DoorDash’s stock down 10.7%.

Etsy shares slid 15.6% after the online marketplace missed Wall Street expectations for first-quarter gross merchandise sales and profit.

Peloton dropped 10.0% after the fitness equipment maker’s CEO stepped down and the company announced a 15% cut to its global workforce.

Apple Inc’s shares rose 1.9% ahead of its quarterly results expected after the bell.

At 2:11 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 292.4 points, or 0.77%, to 38,195.69. The S&P 500 gained 40.91 points, or 0.82%, at 5,059.3 and the Nasdaq Composite added 211.87 points, or 1.36%, at 15,817.35.

Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, nine were in the green, with consumer discretionary stocks leading the pack.

Materials were the laggards.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 3.60-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.32-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 13 new 52-week highs and seven new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 49 new highs and 76 new lows.

Additional reporting by Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru.