U.S. stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve indicated it may not need to pump the brakes any harder on Wall Street and the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1% Wednesday. The Dow gained 221 points, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.6%. Treasury yields also eased in the bond market after the Fed announced its decision to hold interest rates steady, as expected.
The Fed hinted that a swift rise since the summer in Treasury yields, and the resulting tumble in stock prices, may be slowing inflation on their own and acting like rate-hike substitutes.
On Wednesday:
The S&P 500 rose 44.06 points, or 1.1%, to 4,237.86.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 221.71 points, or 0.7%, to 33,274.58.
The Nasdaq composite rose 210.23 points, or 1.6%, to 13,061.47.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.42 points, or 0.4% to 1,669.70.
For the week:
The S&P is up 120.49 points, or 2.9%.
The Dow is up 856.99 points, or 2.6%.
The Nasdaq is up 418.46 points, or 3.3%.
The Russell 2000 is up 32.77 points, or 2%.
For the year:
The S&P 500 is up 398.36 points, or 10.4%.
The Dow is up 127.33 points, or 0.4%.
The Nasdaq is up 2,594.99 points, or 24.8%
The Russell 2000 is down 91.54 points, or 5.2%.