Wall Street gains as Fed holds rates steady

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street gained on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates steady.

The Fed indicated that moderate U.S. economic growth and "strong job gains" would allow it to resume tightening monetary policy this year. But the U.S. central bank noted that the United States continues to face risks from an uncertain global economy.

Eight of 10 S&P sectors were positive after the Fed's statement, with telecoms the best performing group and healthcare lagging the most.

"The Fed struck a very dovish tone, marking down its projected rate increase trajectory, while noting overall resilience in the U.S. economy and the absence of inflation pressures," said Brian Dolan, head market strategist at DriveWealth LLC in New Jersey. "This should be encouraging for risk sentiment and risk assets."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.61 points, or 0.26 percent, at 17,296.14, the S&P 500 was up 4.18 points, or 0.21 percent, at 2,020.11 and the Nasdaq Composite added 14.41 points, or 0.3 percent, at 4,743.08.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York, additional reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Don Sebastian and Nick Zieminski)