Stocks rose on Wednesday as investors waited for the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision.

Intel gained 5.7% and SK Hynix added 2.2% after Reuters reported the two companies had discussed a potential memory-chip partnership. Intel and SK Hynix didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Barron's.

Other chip and memory stocks also rose, having taken a battering earlier this week due to calls for a slowdown in the development of artificial intelligence. Coherent, Corning, Dell, and Lumentum advanced.

Salesforce dropped 1%. A widespread service outage hit the software company on the second day of its annual Dreamforce conference, where users briefly lost access to Salesforce's cloud software suite. While the company later confirmed its engineers had found a solution, some users continued to experience issues.

Expedia fell 2% to $287.13. Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to Underweight from Equal Weight, citing increased competition and a reliance on areas like hospitality and travel that face macroeconomic pressure. The firm set a $235 price target.

Booking Holdings dipped 0.4% to $170.60. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and set a $230 price target. The firm wrote that Booking's strong competitive moats justify a higher valuation even as investor fears over disruption in the online travel market have grown.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services slumped 12%. Chief Financial Officer Brad Delco said he expects the trucking company's third-quarter profit to drop between 5% and 10% from the previous quarter, citing higher costs.

Crypto stocks were sliding after the Clarity Act failed to advance in a Senate vote. Digital-asset exchange Coinbase, online trading platform Robinhood, and Bitcoin investor Strategy declined, having slumped on Tuesday when the bill collapsed.