Stocks swung to a mixed close on Wall Street after the Federal Reserve hinted it may raise interest rates two more times this year.
The S&P 500 ended less than 0.1 percent higher Wednesday after pinballing from a modest gain before the Fed’s announcement to a modest loss just after. The Dow fell 232 points, and the Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent.
The Fed said it would hold rates steady to give more time to see how its fusillade of hikes over the last 15 months is affecting the economy. At the same time, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said underlying trends in inflation are not improving fast enough.
On Wednesday:
The S&P 500 rose 3.58 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4,372.59.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 232.79 points, or 0.7 percent, to 33,979.33.
The Nasdaq composite rose 53.16 points, or 0.4 percent to 13,626.48.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 22.24 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,874.10.
For the week:
The S&P 500 is up 73.73 points, or 1.7 percent.
The Dow is up 102.55 points, or 0.3 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 367.33 points, or 2.8 percent.
The Russell 2000 is up 8.39 points, or 0.4 percent.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 533.09 points, or 13.9 percent.
The Dow is up 832.08 points, or 2.5 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 3,159.99 points, or 30.2 percent.
The Russell 2000 is up 112.85 points, or 6.4 percent.
