Stocks rose on Wednesday, fueled by investors' expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later on Wednesday and a stronger-than-expected performance by the economy in the third quarter.

Rate-sensitive financial shares, including JPMorgan Chase and American Express rose. Eighty of the 92 components of the S&P financial index rose.

Government data showed gross domestic product expanded more than forecast in the third quarter. While accelerating growth could make it harder for the Fed to cut rates, the report did not put a damper on the market's ascent.

The frequent forecasts of the death of this expansion have been massively exaggerated. The Fed will still cut, but they have to pull the market back from expectations that there will be a series of rate cuts, said Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners LLC, Greenwich, Connecticut. The path of least resistance for stocks is higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 40.48 points, or 0.29 percent, at 13,832.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 7.46 points, or 0.49 percent, at 1,538.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 10.64 points, or 0.38 percent, at 2,827.35.

JPMorgan shares were up 1.1 percent to $47.07. AmEx shares climbed 1.1 percent to $60.95 and were the top boost for the Dow.

GDP, which measures all production within U.S. borders, unexpectedly rose to a 3.9 percent annual rate, the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2006.

Stocks briefly wobbled after the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago survey showed a weaker-than-expected reading for October.

The Fed's Open Market Committee is scheduled to issue its decision at 2:15 p.m.

Shares of Web search company Google Inc climbed to a record $704.79 before trading at $703.85, up 1.3 percent.

Shares of pharmaceutical wholesaler McKesson Corp jumped 10.7 percent to $64.65 after it reported higher quarterly profit late on Tuesday .

In deal action, navigation device maker Garmin made an unsolicited 2.3 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) offer for Dutch digital map provider Tele Atlas, topping a bid already accepted from TomTom.

Garmin stock fell 5.4 percent to $113.98 and was the second-biggest drag on the Nasdaq 100.