NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged, as investors expected. Energy companies climbed again as the price of oil came close to a six-month high. Technology stocks were battered following weak results from Apple and Twitter.
Stocks opened mostly lower in muted early trading, but they moved higher after the Fed released its decision on interest rates. Bond yields fell and investors bought high-dividend phone and utility companies instead. Thanks to the losses for tech stocks, the Nasdaq composite index fell for the fifth day in a row.
Investors didn’t expect the Fed to raise interest rates this month, and they’re starting to think that interest rates won’t go up in June, the Fed’s next meeting, either. However, David Kelly, chief global strategist JPMorgan Chase, said that might be a problem because the Fed didn’t make its intentions clear Wednesday.
“There’s nothing in this to tell us when the next rate hike is going to be,†Kelly said. He thinks the market will react badly if the Fed raises interest rates without advising investors that it’s coming.
“What they can’t do is just coast into the June meeting having not given anybody any indication at all,†Kelly said.
The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 51.23 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,041.55. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 3.45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,095.15. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 25.14 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4,863.14.