NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks gained some strength late Tuesday after the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting, but a slew of economic and earnings reports due Wednesday could send markets lower if they don't support hopes for an economic recovery.

Stocks rallied to a higher close Tuesday on low trading volume, after the Fed's decision to leave its key short-term interest rate unchanged.

But that may not be enough to sustain a rally as investors will be paying particular attention to earnings reports, including those for companies that reported after the bell on Tuesday, and other economic data due out on Wednesday.

Among the stocks to watch Wednesday are Applied Materials, Interpublic, Computer Sciences, Abercrombie and Fitch, AstraZeneca, Computer Associates International, Amazon.com, Wal-Mart Stores, and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

Shares for several companies that reported after the bell fell on Instinet, regardless of whether they beat, met, or missed Wall Street's expectations.

Applied Materials reported a net loss for its fiscal third quarter due to restructuring charges and layoffs, but its profit excluding the charges beat the First Call consensus estimate by a penny. The company also gave disappointing guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter. Applied Materials (AMAT: Research, Estimates) shares fell 1.5 percent to $18.18 in after-hours trading on Instinet after closing marginally higher at $18.45 on Nasdaq.

Shares for Interpublic Group of Cos. (IPG: Research, Estimates) sank 5 percent to $13.00 on Instinet after the No. 2 ad agency owner reported a second-quarter loss and retreated from its full-year earnings forecast.

Computer Sciences' (CSC: Research, Estimates) first-quarter profit met analysts' expectations but its shares dropped 3.7 percent to $42.00 in after-hours trading.

Retailer Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF: Research, Estimates) reported a higher second-quarter profit after the bell but its shares fell nearly 3 percent to $28.50 after closing slightly higher at $29.36 on the New York Stock Exchange.

But shares for drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC (AZN: Research, Estimates) rose 3 percent to $42.15 on Instinet following news that it won FDA approval for Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering product.

Neither Amazon.com nor Computer Associates moved much in after-hours trading, but both issued late-day announcements that could affect their stock prices on Wednesday.

Online retailer Amazon said it extended its initial five-year e-commerce agreement with retailer Target Corp. to August 2008. Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) shares closed 2.4 percent higher at $39.85 on the Nasdaq.

And Computer Associates International Inc. said it agreed to settle litigation with the Canopy Group and Center 7 in a pact that will cost the software company about $40 million. Computer Associates (CA: Research, Estimates) shares closed modestly higher at $24.67 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Wednesday will be a busy morning for economic news with June business inventories and retail sales figures for July scheduled for early release. Additionally, discounter Wal-Mart and News Corp. will report their earnings before the bell.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters Research expect Wal-Mart (WMT: Research, Estimates) to report a second-quarter profit of 52 cents per share. News Corp. (NWS: Research, Estimates) is expected to report a 16 cents per share fourth-quarter profit.  

--Reuters contributed to this report.