Investing.com -- U.S. stocks moved broadly higher on Wednesday extending gains from the previous session, as a relatively dovish Federal Reserve kept short-term interest rates unchanged and offered almost no hints that lift-off could be forthcoming in the fall.
As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee kept its Federal Funds Rate at its current rate between zero and 0.25% on Wednesday, leaving its benchmark short-term rate unchanged for the 53rd consecutive meeting. Nearly a decade has passed since the Fed last hiked interest rates.
The Fed reiterated that it would like to see improvements in the labor market and inflation moved toward its targeted goal of 2% before it starts to raise rates.
"The labor market continued to improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment," the FOMC said in its July monetary policy statement. "The Committee anticipates that it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when it has seen some further improvement in the labor market." In June, the U.S. unemployment rate declined 0.2% to 5.3.
The major indices wavered following the announcement, before rallying near the close of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 40 points to above 17,760 in the minutes following the release, before quickly falling back near 17,710, its pre-announcement level, minutes later. From there, the Dow climbed steadily for the rest of the session closing at 17,751.39, up 121.12 or 0.69% for the day. The NASDAQ Composite index and S&P 500 Composite also posted solid gains after the release on a bullish day for U.S. markets.
The NASDAQ added 22.52 or 0.44% to 5,111.73, bolstered by strong gains among tech stocks while the S&P 500 gained 15.32 or 0.73% to 2,108.57. For the session, all 10 sectors closed in the green as stocks in the Energy and Industrials industries led.
The top performer on the Dow was Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which surged 0.95 or 2.10% to 46.29 on Wednesday after the tech giant launched its Windows 10 operating system earlier in the day.EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE:DD) ended the session as the worst performer on the Dow for the second consecutive day, closing down 0.47 or 0.83% at 55.44.
"Windows 10 is a huge milestone for us as a company, and quite frankly the industry," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the BBC.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was VimpelCom (NASDAQ:VIP), which surged 0.80 or 15.59 to 5.93. The worst performer was CELG, which fell 3.13 or 2.31% to 132.29 after the New Jersey-based biotech company acquired immune-inflammatory specialist Receptors for a reported $7.2 billion.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was Citrix Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CTXS), which jumped more than 8.3% to 75.43 after posting stronger than expected quarterly earnings. The South Florida-based multinational company also announced on Wednesday that it agreed to terms with Elliot Management on a cooperative agreement, which will provide the activist investment firm with a seat on its Board of Directors. The worst performer was Level 3 Communications Inc (NYSE:LVLT), after the Colorado-based telecommunication services company reported disappointing revenues and earnings for the second quarter. Shares in Level 3 Communications, slumped 3.22 or 6.13% to 49.28.