U.S. equities gained at midday Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday's decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq were all higher.

International Paper (IP) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the paper giant announced that Andrew Silvernail, an executive advisor at KKR, would be the new CEO.

Shares of Nordstrom (JWN) surged following a report that the founding family of the retailer was exploring taking the company private.

American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Unilever (UL) gained as the conglomerate said it would spin off its ice cream business and lay off 7,500 workers in a cost-cutting move. 

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) shares tumbled as the tech company that has benefitted from demand for artificial intelligence (AI) announced a sale of 2 million shares in a public offering.

Shares of AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) declined following a keynote address from CEO Jensen Huang at the chipmaker's annual GPU technology conference Monday. Shares of other chip companies, including Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also fell.

Oil futures rose. Prices for gold and other precious metals fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was lower. The U.S. dollar advanced versus the euro, pound, and yen. Most major cryptocurrencies traded deeply in the red.