NEW YORK, New York – Fears of a recession and a potential 50 basis points rate hike by the US. Federal Reserve, when it concludes its monthly two-day meeting on Wednesday, kept a lid on U.S. stocks on Tuesday. All the major indices however managed modest gains.

“The two main drivers of what’s going on in markets is the Federal Reserve meeting coming up on Wednesday, and some questions about what are the odds of a potential recession in 2022 or 2023,” said Tom Hainlin, global investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency Tuesday,

The Standard and Poor’s 500 did best, percentage-wise, rising 27.74 points or 0.48 percent to 4,175.48.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 27.74 points or 0.22 percent to 12,563.76.

The Dow Jones industrials increased 67.29 points or 0.20 percent to 33,328.79.

The U.S. dollar was steady Tuesday, ahead of the Fed rate decision. The euro hovered around 1.0525 at the New York close. The British pound dipped to 1.2492. The Japanese yen was unwanted at 130.11. The Swiss franc was unchanged at 0.9784.

The Canadian dollar remained on the defensive, last quoted at 1.2832. The Australian dollar fell back after hurdling the 0.71 cents level after the Reserve Bank of Australia hiked official interest rates by 0.25 percent. The Aussie last traded at 0.7094. The New Zealand dollar struggled to stay above 0.6437.

On overseas equity markets, the FTSE 100 in London resumed after a one-day break with the key index rising 0.22 percent. The Dax in Germany managed a 0.72 percent gain, while the Paris-based CAC 40 added 0.79. percent.

Asian markets were quiet with Japan, mainland China and Singapore close for public holidays.

The Australian All Ordinaries dropped 36.00 points or 0.47 percent to 7,587.60.

Across the Tasman in New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 declined 108.54 points or 0.92 percent to 11,675.92.

South Korea’s Kospi Composite slipped 6.99 points or 0.26 percent to 2,680.46.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng went against the trend, rising 12.50 points or 0.06 percent to 21,101.89.