U.S. stocks posted solid gains Wednesday, as Wall Street assessed the Federal Reserve's meeting announcement amid a positive earnings report from the behemoth Apple Inc.. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 198.09 points, or 1.13 percent, to 17,779.52. The S&P 500 gained 24.46 points, or 1.18 percent, to 2,090.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 65.54 points, or 1.30 percent, to 5,095.69.
After a two-day monetary policy meeting, the U.S. central bank on Wednesday left the federal funds rate unchanged, but signaled option to tighten policy rate at its next meeting in December.
"In determining whether it will be appropriate to raise the target range at its next meeting, the (Fed) will assess progress - - both realized and expected -- toward its objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation," the Fed said in a statement.
According to the statement, Fed officials saw economic activity expand at a moderate pace since September and downplayed recent slower job gains, saying that underutilization of labor resources has diminished since early this year. The three major indices initially slid to the red territory following the release of the statement, but then bounced back quickly, and surpassed previous peak to end almost at session highs.
"Changes in the statement were minor. The market reaction looks overdone. December liftoff is a possibility, but that was true this morning too. As Yellen likes to say, every meeting is on the table. That does not make it likely, however," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial.
On the earnings front, shares of Apple surged 4.12 percent to 119.27 U.S. dollars apiece Wednesday, after the tech giant posted quarterly earnings and revenue that beat investors' expectations Tuesday after the closing bell. Apple announced the third-quarter revenues of 51.5 billion dollars and net profit of 11.1 billion dollars, or 1.96 dollars per diluted share. Its financial results were mainly boosted by strong iPhone growth in China.
Meanwhile, a strong rebound in oil prices also provided some upward jolts to the market, lifting up 2.22 percent the energy sector in the S&P 500. Oil prices spiked Wednesday although data showed U.S. crude stockpiles increased last week. The West Texas Intermediate for December delivery moved up 2.74 U.S. dollars to settle at 45.94 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Wednesday's gain was the largest for U.S. crude since Aug. 31.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 7.13 percent to end at 14.33 Wednesday. In other markets, the U.S. dollar rose against most major currencies Wednesday as the newly-released Federal Reserve statement suggested the possibility of an interest-rate hike by year-end. In late New York trading, the euro fell to 1.0901 dollars from 1.1040 dollars in the previous session, while the dollar bought 121.21 Japanese yen, higher than 120.32 yen of the previous session.
Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose Wednesday, with the most active gold contract for December delivery up 10.3 dollars, or 0.88 percent, to settle at 1, 176.10 dollars per ounce.
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