Markets rise on Apple’s earnings and Fed statement
NYC, NY, United States (AHN) – After a choppy morning, stocks gained some ground Wednesday afternoon following comments from the Federal Reserve that it would leave rates unchanged and does not plan any changes until late 2014.
Since August, the Fed has maintained in policy statements that it planned to keep its benchmark rate at a record low until at least mid 2013, as long as the economy remained weak. It is now certain that rates will remain at historic lows even longer.
The Dow and the S&P spent much of the morning in negative territory. But just before 2 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial was up 54 points, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 8 points. The tech heavy NASDAQ, boosted by blockbuster, record breaking numbers from Apple Inc., was better by 29 points.
To the disappoint of some, the Fed did not announce any future bond purchases.
The following statement ended the two day FOMC meeting, “To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions-including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run-are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through 2014.”
Low interest rates make stocks more attractive, and shortly after the Fed’s decision on interest rates, the Dow perked up.
In commodities, oil rose 83 cents to $99.75. Gold glistened, rising $38.60 to $1,702.90 a troy ounce and silver soared 82 cents to $32.87.
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