By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
Dow marks five straight sessions of triple-digit moves
U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve
offered no clear indication of the timing of the next rate hike,
but left itself room to act as early as September, citing continued
"solid" gains in the job market.
Policy makers voted unanimously to keep a key U.S. interest rate
unchanged and reiterated their dependency on data to determine
their game plan for tightening monetary policy.
Read: Federal Reserve is noncommittal on timing of first
interest-rate hike
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/federal-reserve-is-noncommittal-on-timing-of-first-interest-rate-hike-2015-07-29)
Early action in the stock market on the heels of the report was
choppy. The main benchmarks, which were already higher Wednesday,
driven by gains in the energy, industrials and transportations
stocks, initially shot higher after the policy statement was
released at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, but indexes pared gains 10 minutes
later as investors digested the statement, only to bounce
higher.
Robin Anderson, senior economist at Principal Global Investors,
said there continues to be a disconnect between the Fed's
projections for the interest rates and for the market's
expectations.
"The biggest risk for the market is...if the economy accelerates
in 2016-2017 and the Fed [has] to tighten faster. Then expectations
would change rapidly and that may destabilize markets," said
Anderson.
The S&P 500 ended up 15.32 points, or 0.7%, to 2,108.57,
with all 10 main sectors finishing higher. A jump in oil prices
provided support to energy stocks, while industrials and consumer
discretionary sector stocks also rallied. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average rose 121.12 points, or 0.7%, to 17,751.39, marking the
fifth consecutive triple-digit move for the blue-chip index.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the session up 22.53
points, or 0.4%, at 5,111.73.
"Markets rose on the news and I would interpret that as dovish,
or that investors think rates would stay lower for longer" said
Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global
Advisors' U.S. Intermediary Business.
Investors also looked at earnings which have been mixed. The
market rewarded Gilead Sciences Corp. and Citrix Systems Inc. for
topping estimates but punished Twitter Inc. and Yelp Inc. in the
wake of disappointing outlooks.
"We've had some good earnings reports today and transports
stocks are rising for the second day in a row, no doubt thanks to
UPS profits. We view that as a positive," Peter Cardillo, chief
market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
"While the market has been stuck in the range, many individual
stocks have already corrected. Unless and until the S&P 500
breaks through the support or resistance levels, there is not much
chance for an upside or the downside," Cardillo said.
In other U.S. economic news, a gauge of pending home sales fell
in June
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pending-home-sales-fall-18-in-june-2015-07-29-109104),
pulling back from May's reading, which was the highest in more than
nine years, a trade group said Wednesday.
Movers & Shakers: Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) was the biggest
gainer among S&P 500 stocks, jumping 8.1% after the software
company's adjusted quarterly profit and revenue topped expectations
late Tuesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/citrix-systems-ceo-mark-templeton-to-retire-2015-07-28-174854715).
Citrix also announced the retirement of its long time chief
executive, Mark Templeton.
Twitter Inc. (TWTR) plunged 15% in the wake of its earnings
report late Tuesday, as investors focused on the social-media
company's disappointing user growth
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-revenue-jumps-user-growth-disappoints-2015-07-28).
Yelp Inc. (YELP) lost more than a quarter of its market value after
a quarterly report
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yelp-chops-forecast-chairman-to-step-down-2015-07-28)
that dismayed investors.
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) rose 2.3% after the biotech company
late Tuesday posted adjusted quarterly profit and revenue that beat
forecasts
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gilead-rallies-after-earnings-beat-wall-streets-expectations-2015-07-28).
Live blog: Facebook earnings may show video progress
(http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2015/07/29/live-blog-facebook-earnings-may-show-video-progress/)
Read more: MasterCard, Facebook, Humana earnings in focus
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mastercard-facebook-humana-earnings-in-focus-2015-07-28)
Other markets: Chinese stocks mostly closed higher Wednesday,
with the Shanghai Composite up 3.4% and recovering partly from
Monday's 8.5% slide
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-stocks-remain-weak-as-investors-focus-on-the-fed-2015-07-29)
that helped spark a global selloff. But the gains baffled many
analysts, who suspected Chinese government buying. European
equities on Wednesday mostly gained ground
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-step-up-as-investors-wait-for-fed-2015-07-29).
Crude-oil prices rebounded, scoring their second-biggest one-day
percentage gain of July. Futures rose 1.7% to settle at $48.79 a
barrel. Gold futures
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-dulled-by-dollar-as-fed-statement-looms-2015-07-29)
settled lower at $1,092.60, though prices climbed after the Federal
Reserve statement. The dollar
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-holds-steady-against-yen-euro-ahead-of-fomc-2015-07-29)
edged higher after the Fed left room for a September rate hike.
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