Midday Leaders & Laggards: DJIA

The blue chip index gained 55.94 points to 11,863.37.

Wall Street analysts expect the Fed to hold its ground on interest rates Wednesday after cutting them seven times between September and April.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. made the biggest gains, rising $1.34, or 3.5 percent, to $39.06.

Citigroup Inc. added 60 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $19.45.

Bank of America Corp. climbed 77 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $27.39.

Among the decliners, shares of Boeing co. gave up $4.94, or 6.6 percent, to $69.85 after touching a 52-week low of $69.83 earlier in the session. Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Safran cut the aerospace manufacturer to "Sell" from "Neutral" in a client note, citing rising fuel costs and a weak economy.

Shares of conglomerate United Technologies Corp. gave up $1.76, or 2.6 percent, to $66.40.

Merck & Co. slipped 33 cents to $36.70 after the drug maker said the Food and Drug Administration rejected expanding the use of a cervical cancer vaccine to include women ages 27 to 45.

Twenty-one stocks on the 30-ticker index gained while nine stocks fell.