NEW YORK, March 19 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, with investors preparing for the outcomes of a significant Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 320.33 points, or 0.83 percent, to 39,110.76. The S&P 500 added 29.09 points, or 0.56 percent, to 5,178.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 63.34 points, or 0.39 percent, to 16,166.79.

Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with energy and utilities leading the gainers by going up 1.08 percent and 0.92 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services bucked the trend by dropping 0.17 percent.

Investors are closely focused on the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting starting Tuesday morning, viewed as a pivotal moment for stocks affected by unexpected inflation developments, which have challenged expectations of imminent interest rate cuts. While a rate cut in March is not expected by traders, they are closely monitoring the outlook for potential future rate cuts.

Despite reduced expectations for an immediate rate cut, stocks have remained resilient in recent weeks.

"The key is growth, it's not rate cuts," Sevens Report Research's Tom Essaye told Barron's. "As long as growth is stable, the markets can tolerate fewer rate cuts - up to a certain point."

Single-family housing starts in the United States, which make up the majority of home construction, saw a notable surge of 11.6 percent, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.129 million units last month, the Census Bureau of the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. This marked the highest level since April 2022.

On the corporate front, Super Micro Computer announced plans to sell 2 million shares also on Tuesday, potentially generating approximately 2 billion U.S. dollars in proceeds. This news caused the artificial intelligence server maker's shares to drop by 11 percent. Enditem

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