SAN FRANCISCO: U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday after the Federal Open Market Committee indicated a slower pace of rate hikes, following the removal of the word “patient” from its policy statement.
The S&P 500 SPX, +1.22% jumped 25.14 points, or 1.2%, to close at 2,099.42, with all 10 sectors finishing higher on the day, led by energy and utilities. Just before the Fed’s statement, the S&P 500 was down 8 points.
Trading within a 400-point range on the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.27% surged 227.11 points, or 1.3%, to close at 18,076.19, after trading down 101 points just before the statement’s release. Twenty-eight of the Dow’s 30 components finished higher, with Caterpillar Inc. CAT, +3.67% and Chevron Corp. CVX, +3.42% among the biggest gainers.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +0.92% surged 45.39 points, or 0.9%, to close at 4,982.83, after being down about 17 points before the statement.
The Fed’s “dot plot,” or survey of what Fed officials think rates should be at certain times, indicated a slower rise in rates, as the median dot for the end of 2015 declined to 0.625% from 1.125%.
