Stocks turned broadly higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy continues to mend but also offered no indication it intends to let off the gas anytime soon. All 10 sectors in the S&P 500 finished in the black, with the market gauge again advancing to a record close paced by gains for shares of utility and materials and mining companies. Consumer non-cyclicals also enjoyed strong support.
Stimulus Eased
As expected, the Fed on Wednesday trimmed its bond-buying stimulus program by another $10 billion to $35 billion per month. But voting members on the Federal Open Markets Committee also thweaked their targets in the short-term fed funds rate, with five of the panel's member trimming their targets by 25 basis points from their prior view, with seven members now looking for a more dovish 3.75% and only five members wanting a rate of 4% or more.
While struggling to overcome lethargy ahead of this afternoon's Fed anouncements, stock got earlier support from S&P 500 components Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) and FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenue in their latest quarters.
Stock Debuts
Wednesday's trading also included a pair of well-received initial public stock offerings. In one deal, ZS Pharma Inc (ZSPH) jumped over 50% in its debut after the drugmaker priced its IPO at $18 a share, topping its expected $15 to $17 price range.
Also today, Viper Energy Partners (VNOM) finished with almost a 30% advance after pricing its IPO of 5 million shares at $26 each, well above the projected range of $19 to $21 a share for the Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG)) spinoff.
But another first-day offering tumbled Wednesday when Australian drugmaker Parnell Pharmaceuticals (PARN) slashed its offering price by more than 70% to $10 a share from its planned pricing of $17 to $19 a share. It also reduced the number of shares that were sold in the IPO.
Commodities
Crude Oil for July delivery continued its slow decline from multi-month highs, falling 39 cents to settle at $105.97 per barrel while July Natural Gas was down 5 cents at $4.66 per 1 million BTU. August Gold rose 60 cents to finish at $1,272.40 per ounce while July Silver added 4 cents, settling at $19.77 per ounce. July Copper was unchanged at $3.06 per pound.
Here's Where The U.S. Markets Stood At Day's End
- Dow Jones Industrial Average up 98.20 (+0.58%) to 16,906.69
- S&P 500 up 15.00 (+0.77%) to 1,956.99
- NASDAQ Composite Index up 25.60 (+0.59%) to 4,362.84
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
- Hang Seng Index down 0.09%
- Shanghai Composite Index down 0.54%
- FTSE 100 Index up 0.17%
UPSIDE MOVERS
- (+) LIVE, Reports 400% increase over year-ago levels in the number of restaurants registering with the company's Deal Engine on a daily basis. The customer-acquisition and online listing firm did not provide specific user numbers.
- (+) INSM, Wins breakthrough therapy designation from regulators for its Arikayce drug candidate for the treatment of nontuberculous mycobacterial lung disease in adults resistant to other therapies.
- (+) ETRM, FDA advisory panel votes 8-to-1 the company's VBLOC vagal blocking device to treat obesity is safe and 6-to-2 with one abstention that its relative benefits outweigh the relative risks.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
- (-) ECYT, Merck decides it will no longer pursue development of the companies' vintafolide cancer treatment, turning over worldwide rights for all indications back to ECYT.
- (-) LZB, Q4 revenue rises 2.1% year over year to $353 mln but still lags consensus view by $14.9 mln. Adjusted EPS of $0.33 beats by $0.01 per share. Same-store sales rise 1% over year-ago levels.
- (-) DOM, Seeking Alpha article slams natural gas royalty trust, projecting a 75% decline in its share price as operator Walter Energy (WLT) begins the process of abandoning its wells in Alabama.
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