The Fed's Open Market Committee begins a two-day meeting Tuesday. It is widely anticipated the Fed will restart a program of quantitative easing -- Treasury bond purchases that put more money into the economy.
In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average added 88.70 points, 0.8 percent, to 11,213.32. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.93 percent, 11.02 points, to 1,195.40. The Nasdaq composite index gained 1.08 percent, 27.14, to 2,531.98.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 7/32 to yield 2.605 percent.
The euro rose to $1.4038 from Monday's $1.3887. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 80.74 yen from Monday's 80.59 yen.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose slightly, up 0.06 percent, 5.26 points, to 9,159.98.
In Britain, the FTSE 100 index rose 1.1 percent, 62.81, to 5,757.43.
Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI).