The central bank backed up the positive sentiment when itspolicy meeting concluded and the Fed said the economic outlookhad improved
The central bank backed up the positive sentiment when itspolicy meeting concluded and the Fed said the economic outlookhad improved modestly since its last meeting in March.[ID:nN29429278] “It’s a good read on the economy, it’s good for stocks. Itfollows along all of the ‘green shoots’ that we’ve beenseeing, it reinforces that,” said Rick Campagna, portfoliomanager at Provident Investment Council in Pasadena,California. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 168.78points, or 2.11 percent, to 8,185.73. The Standard & Poor’s500 Index .SPX gained 18.48 points, or 2.16 percent, to873.64.
The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gained 38.13points, or 2.28 percent, to 1,711.94. After the closing bell, shares of Visa Inc (V.N) werelittle changed in extended trading after the world’s largestcredit card network posted higher quarterly earnings asconsumers used their debit cards more. DOW’S BEST FINISH SINCE EARLY FEBRUARY During the regular session, Wal-Mart (WMT.N) was among theDow’s major advancers. The stock rose 4.1 percent to $50.45,as the world’s largest retailer said that 17 percent ofmeasurable traffic in February came from new households. Before the Fed’s announcement, the S&P 500 broke through asignificant resistance around the 875 level, a key technicalpoint the S&P had tried but failed to break in recent days.
The move marked the highest level for the broad index in3-1/2 months. A sustained move above that level could lead toeven more gains, according to some analysts. For the S&P 500, Wednesday marked its highest finish sinceJan 28 The Dow scored its highest close since Feb 9, the daybefore U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put forth abank rescue plan that disappointed investors with its lack ofdetails.
