NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising on hopes that the Federal Reserve will come up with a plan to jumpstart the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 119 points at 12,861 just before noon on Tuesday.

Microsoft was one of the biggest gainers in the Dow, jumping almost 4 percent after it announced a new tablet computer called Surface to compete with the popular iPad from Apple.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 14 points to 1,359. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 35 points to 2,930.

Traders are hopeful because of recent signals from the Federal Reserve that the central bank may reveal plans to stimulate the economy at the end of a two-day meeting that started Tuesday.