Wall Street stocks rose on Wednesday as markets awaited key US inflation data expected to influence upcoming Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions.

Thursday's consumer price index report for December is certain to show moderation compared with the mid-2022 peak of more than nine percent in year-over-year price hikes.

But just how much moderation it demonstrates will influence expectations for the Fed. Investors are currently somewhat less certain that the US central bank will start interest rate cuts as soon as March.

"We continue to think the Fed will start cutting rates later than consensus," said CFRA Research's Sam Stovall, who expects rate cuts in May rather than March.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.5 percent at 37,695.73.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.6 percent to 4,783.45, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.8 percent to 14,969.65.

Several large tech companies bounced Wednesday including Microsoft, which jumped 1.9 percent, Amazon, up 1.6 percent and Facebook parent Meta, which gained 3.7 percent.

Juniper Networks rose 2.1 percent after announcing an agreement to be bought by Hewlett Packard Enterprise for about $14 billion. HPE, which said the deal would bolster its networking capacities to customers, advanced 1.8 percent.

Besides inflation data, investors are looking ahead to Friday's kickoff of corporate earnings, which includes releases from JPMorgan Chase and other large banks, as well as Delta Air Lines. (AFP)