US stocks close higher after Fed decision

US stocks closed higher after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday jumped 434.90 points, or 1.77 per cent, to 25,014.86. The S&P 500 was up 41.05 points, or 1.55 per cent, to 2,681.05, Xinhua reported.

The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 154.79 points, or 2.20 per cent, to 7,183.08.

The US central bank on Wednesday said in a statement that the Federal Open Market Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent in support of the goals to foster maximum employment and price stability.

Major indexes surged after Fed released its statement.

Meanwhile, investors digested upbeat quarterly earnings of some big companies as well as key economic data.

Boeing, a constituent of the Dow, reported fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of $5.48 and revenue of $28.3 billion, far exceeding analysts' estimates. Its shares surged 6.25 per cent to close at $387.72 on Wednesday.

Shares of Apple rose 6.83 per cent on Wednesday after its earnings report came out a little better than expected. The company registered earnings per share of $4.18 and revenue of $84.3 billion.

However, the company saw a sharp decline in its iPhone revenue, which raised investors' concerns.

On the economic front, private payrolls showed 213,000 jobs were added in January, a much faster pace than expected as the labour market weathered the impact of the longest government shutdown in US history, according to data released on Wednesday by human resources services provider ADP and Moody's Analytics.

--IANS

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