Investors continue to absorb heightened Middle East tensions and the Federal Reserve will give its monetary policy update at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Key Takeaways The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate steady at a range of 4.25% to 4.5% Wednesday, as financial markets had widely expected.The Fed is continuing its "wait-and-see" approach, avoiding making any monetary policy moves while officials gauge how President Donald Trump's tariffs are affecting the economy.

The major stock market indexes were holding onto modest gains with just under an hour to go until the Federal Open Market Committee releases its June interest-rate decision. The Dow was up 120 points,