By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 moved in and out of negative territory on Wednesday, buoyed by gains in Apple shares (NASDAQ:AAPL) and after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, while painting a relatively upbeat picture of the U.S. economy.
Apple shares rose 7.4 percent to $130.31 after touching $130.35, its highest in 18 months. The advance made it the biggest positive influence on the three major indexes, which would all be negative for the day without Apple's boost.
In its first meeting since President Donald Trump took office, the Fed's policy-setting committee said job gains remained solid and was upbeat on inflation, signaling conviction that the economy was on a good footing.
The lack of detail on when the next rate hike could come weighed on financial shares, which had been positive through most of the session.
"Confidence in the economy was reflected in the more emphatic statement with regard to inflation," said Atul Lele, chief investment officer at Deltec International Group in Nassau, Bahamas.
He said the Fed's statement suggested a wait-and-see approach when it came to the fiscal stimulus expected to be triggered by the Trump administration.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 20.29 points, or 0.1 percent, to 19,884.38, the S&P 500 (SPX) lost 1.02 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,277.85 and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) added 24.61 points, or 0.44 percent, to 5,639.40.
The S&P is struggling to cap a four-session losing streak, its largest since before the Nov. 8 presidential election.
Dow component Exxon (N:XOM) slipped 1.3 percent after a string of price target cuts from brokerages. The oil major had reported results on Tuesday.
Johnson Controls (N:JCI) fell 3.1 percent to $42.63 after its quarterly organic sales growth fell short of its estimate.
The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 116 new highs and 21 new lows.