Stock market live Wednesday: S&P gains 1.25%, Kodak surges 318%, Fed keeps rates unchanged

• S&P 500 closed up 1.24% for its second positive day in three, and its best day since July 14
• S&P is up 5.1% this month, on pace for its 4^th straight positive month and its best July since 2010
• S&P is 3.98% below its intraday all-time high of 3,393.52 from Feb. 19
• All 11 sectors were positive on Wednesday, led by energy up 2.1% 
• The Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.35% for its second positive day in three
• The Nasdaq Composite is up 4.81% this month, on pace for its 4^th straight positive month
• The Dow closed up 0.61% for its second positive day in three
• The Dow is up 2.82% month-to-date on pace for its fourth straight positive month
• The Dow is 10.24% below its intraday all-time high of 29,568.57 from Feb. 12. - Gina Francolla

Shares of At Home spiked more than 45% after releaseing preliminary second quarter results that saw comparable store sales rise by 42% relative to last quarter. The home decor company cited "pent-up demand and stimulus spending" related to the pandemic for its growth in the quarter, which saw net sales of $515 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected revenue of $360.9 million. — Jesse Pound

Stocks finished Wednesday's session in the green, boosted by Big Tech names. The Dow gained 162 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 jumped 1.25%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was the relative outperformer, advancing 1.35%. - Pippa Stevens 

Markets rose as Jerome Powell finished his press briefing, with the Dow notching a 200-point gain for the day. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.5% as tech shares pushed higher. — Jesse Pound

Gold prices climbed to another record on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve officials left their benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero. Spot gold gained 1% to $1,979.53 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,953.4 per ounce, a new record close. Gold tends to strengthen when interest rates are low, which reduces the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. — Yun Li 

The major averages rose to their session highs with roughly one hour left in the trading session after the Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged and reiterated its accommodative stance as the coronavirus pandemic continues. The Dow gained 165 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 climbed 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5%. Gains from tech leaders such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Alphabet also lifted the broader market. —Fred Imbert

Stocks rose slightly as Chairman Jerome Powell made his opening statement, with tech stocks pushing higher and lifting the major indexes. Powell is now beginning the question-and-answer portion of his press briefing. Watch the live stream and follow along here. — Jesse Pound

Major stock indexes remained higher for the day after the Federal Reserve's interest rate announcement. The Dow was trading about 110 points, or 0.4%, higher. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 1% and 1.2%, respectively. You can see how the language in the latest Fed statement changed here. — Jesse Pound

The Federal Reserve announced that it was keeping its benchmark interest rate at a record low level and warned that economic measures are still "well below their levels at the beginning of the year." Follow along with CNBC's Fed blog here, which will also have a live stream of Jerome Powell's press conference. — Jesse Pound

Piper Sandler raised its price target on Shopify to a Street high $1,300 from $1,105 and reiterated its overweight rating on Wednesday after the Canadian e-commerce company beat on second-quarter revenue estimates. "Material upside on triple-digit growth in gross margin value and merchant solutions revenue that has crossed over a $2B+ run-rate milestone confirms that SHOP is one of the best positioned pure-plays capitalizing on a great digital awakening," the firm said.  "We view SHOP as a core digital commerce holding for large-cap growth investors," the analyst said. Shares are up 8% in late day trading. — Michael Bloom

Correction: This post has been updated to show that it was Piper Sandler that raised its price target for Shopify. 

Piper Sandler raised its price target on Shopify to a Street high $1,300 from $1,105 and reiterated its overweight rating on Wednesday after the Canadian e-commerce company beat on second-quarter revenue estimates. "Material upside on triple-digit growth in gross margin value and merchant solutions revenue that has crossed over a $2B+ run-rate milestone confirms that SHOP is one of the best positioned pure-plays capitalizing on a great digital awakening," the firm said.  "We view SHOP as a core digital commerce holding for large-cap growth investors," the analyst said. Shares are up 8% in late day trading. — Michael Bloom

Correction: This post has been updated to show that it was Piper Sandler that raised its price target for Shopify. 

As investors await testimony from Big Tech executives, the companies' stocks were trading slightly higher. Shares of Apple and Google rose a little more than 1%, while Amazon and Facebook posted more modest gains. — Jesse Pound

The corporate belt-tightening caused by the pandemic has slowed stock buybacks to their worst pace since 2013, according to Bank of America. The bank said in a note that buybacks from its corporate clients are down 41% year to date, which could imply between $400 and $500 million in total buybacks for the S&P 500 this year. 

"As highlighted in our EPS Tracker, we're seeing corporate paralysis on cash return: S&P 500 buyback suspensions have slowed after nearly ~100 during 1Q earnings season, but buyback announcements have also declined," the note said. — Jesse Pound 

Bank of America's Savita Subramanian told clients stocks remain a more attractive alternative to bonds given how much larger the S&P 500's dividend yield is compared to the benchmark 10-year Treasury rate. "We continue to prefer stocks over bonds, where the dividend yield is currently ~3x the 10yr Tsy. yield (highest since the '50s). Income-seeking investors should seek out co's with stable, not stretched, dividends," said Subramanian, the head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The S&P 500's dividend yield currently sits at 1.76%. The 10-year Treasury yield traded around 0.58% on Wednesday. —Fred Imbert, Michael Bloom

The Congressional hearing with tech leaders has been pushed back to 1 pm ET. Follow along with CNBC's live coverage here. — Jesse Pound

The major averages were higher around midday as traders awaited the latest monetary policy announcement from the Fed and testimony from the CEOs of several big tech companies. The Dow climbed 80 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1%. —Fred Imbert

CNBC's tech reporters and editors will be live blogging the hearings on Capitol Hill, slated to begin at noon ET. The CEO's of Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple are scheduled to speak. Follow along with the blog here. — Jesse Pound

Shares of Eastman Kodak continued their volatile morning and were halted for the 10th time after climbing 572%. The move has pushed the small-cap stock over the $1 billion market cap threshold. The federal government has tapped the company to make ingredients for generic drugs under the Defense Production Act. — Jesse Pound

The 5-year Treasury yield fell one basis point to hit a record low of 0.2516%. The decline came as investors await a key policy decision from the Federal Reserve. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to reinforce loose monetary policy and keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell slightly to 0.5741%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also little changed at 1.2240%. Yields move inversely to prices. — Yun Li

Shares of Tesla jumped more than 2% during early trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley raised its base case target on the stock to $1,050 and its bull case forecast to $2,500. The latter implies a rally of nearly 70%. But analyst Adam Jonas also reiterated his underweight target on shares of the electric vehicle maker, saying risks remain.

CNBC PRO subscribers can read more here. — Pippa Stevens 

Trading in Eastman Kodak was halted shortly after the open Wednesday due to volatility. The stock was up 168% before the halt, boosted by a deal with the U.S. government to produce ingredients in generic drugs in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The stock more than tripled on Tuesday for its best day ever after the U.S. government awarded the company a $765 million loan to start producing drug ingredients under the Defense Production Act, the first of its kind. — Yun Li

Stocks pushed higher at the open, with the Dow rising 40 points, or 0.2%, in the opening minutes. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively. —Jesse Pound

• Deutsche Bank initiated T-Mobile as buy.
• KeyBanc upgraded Quest Diagnostics to overweight from sector weight.
• JPMorgan upgraded L Brands to overweight from neutral.
• Credit Suisse raised its price target on Apple to $340 from $295.
• Susquehanna upgraded Advanced Micro Devices to positive from neutral.
• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Tesla to $1,040 from $740.
• Piper Sandler upgraded Kraft Heinz to overweight from neutral.
• Loop Capital raised its price target on Netflix to $600 from $500.

Pro subscribers read more here. — Michael Bloom

Shares of General Motors and Advanced Micro Devices climbed ahead of the opening bell following their quarterly reports. GM reported a loss of $800 million for the quarter but still beat Wall Street expectations, and its stock jumped 3.9%. AMD's shares were up 11% after the company increased its full-year revenue guidance on Tuesday night. 

Boeing and Starbucks also gained ground following their quarterly reports, rising 1.3% and 5.4%, respectively. — Jesse Pound

Shares of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify rallied more than 7% in premarket trading Wednesday morning after it reported far-better-than-expected revenues for the second quarter. Company management said that revenues during the three months ended June 30 rose 97% from one year earlier as businesses flocked to its platform amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The shift to online sales has sent Shopify's stock up more than 100% over the last six months and established the company as Canada's largest based on market value. — Thomas Franck

The Federal Reserve's policymaking group concludes its two-day meeting Wednesday, with the market expecting not much action now but some indications of what's ahead. With the economic recovery dragging along and the coronavirus pandemic still very much an issue, there's virtually no likelihood the Federal Open Market Committee is even considering interest rate adjustments. However, investors will be wondering where the Fed might go from here in terms of setting forward guidance, or the metrics it would like to see met before rates are increased, as well as the possibility of buying Treasurys to cap government bond yields, a process known as yield curve control.

"The market wants a clearer idea of where they think they're going to go, especially if the economic trajectory weakens," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. — Jeff Cox

The CEOs of Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google-parent Alphabet were set to testify before U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday in a hearing that could give investors insight on how these behemoths are handling mounting antitrust pressures. In recent years, these companies have seen their market share rise dramatically along with their valuations. This has led some lawmakers to call for greater regulatory scrutiny on the major tech companies. —Fred Imbert

Index futures were little changed on Wednesday morning. The Dow futures rose less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures climbed 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively. The premarket calm comes after markets closed near session lows on Tuesday as major tech stocks sank, weighing on the broader indexes. — Jesse Pound