(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)*Investors await CPI data Thursday*Indexes up: Dow 0.4%, S&P 500 0.5%, Nasdaq 0.8%NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher in
afternoon trading Tuesday, led by big growth shares, on relief
that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained in a speech
from commenting on rate policy.In his first public appearance of the year,Powell said at a forum sponsored by the Swedish central bank
that the Fed's independence is essential for it to battle
inflation.Recent comments by other Fed officials have supported the
view that the central bank needs to remain aggressive in raising
interest rates to control inflation. Fed Governor Michelle
Bowman said on Tuesday the bank will have to raise interest
rates further to combat high inflation.Investors anxiously awaited the U.S. consumer prices index
report Thursday, which is expected to show some moderation in
year-on-year prices in December."There are some indications that inflation is slowing
significantly. What investors are really looking for is a gap
down in major inflation data that could probably get the Fed's
attention," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at
Ingalls & Snyder in New York.Traders are betting on a 25-basis point rate hike at the
Fed's upcoming policy meeting in February.Communications services and consumer discretionary
were among the day's best performers among sectors.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 119.1 points,
or 0.36%, to 33,636.75, the S&P 500 gained 20.54 points,
or 0.53%, to 3,912.63 and the Nasdaq Composite added
82.96 points, or 0.78%, to 10,718.61.Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp gave the
S&P 500 its biggest boost.Some investors are hoping for signs that the Fed may soon
take a break after raising the federal funds rate seven times in
2022.The World Bank on Tuesday slashed its 2023 growth forecasts
on Tuesday to levels teetering on the brink of recession for
many countries as the impact of central bank rate hikes
intensifies.Broadcom Inc shares fell, a day after a report that
Apple Inc plans to replace a Broadcom chip from its
devices with an in-house design in 2025.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a
2.06-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.31-to-1 ratio favored advancers.The S&P 500 posted two new 52-week highs and no new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 25 new lows.
(Additional reporting by Ankika Biswas, Amruta Khandekar and
Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli,
Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang)