US close: Markets rise following Fed decision to maintain low rates

US stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to maintain low rates and consumer prices slid further than they have in six years.

The S&P 500 was up 2.04% at 2,012.89 in New York while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 1.69% to 17,356.87 and Nasdaq soared 2.11% to 4,644.31.

Consumer prices fell 0.3% month-on-month in November, the biggest drop since December 2008, on the back of a 6.6% tumble in energy prices.

Analysts had expected a 0.1% fall after a flat reading in October so the decline came as a surprise that pre-empted the Fed’s decision.

Chief US economist at Capital Economics Paul Ashworth said: “The FOMC statement issued today had something for everyone but, on balance, it does not dissuade us that unexpectedly strong employment growth over the next few months could still prompt the Fed to hike rates next March, sooner than most others expect.”

“Fed Chair Janet Yellen explicitly warned that, as things stand now, the FOMC was ‘unlikely to begin the normalization process for at least the next couple of meetings’.”

Barclays Research added: “We retain our baseline outlook for a policy rate hike in June, with risk to a later take-off given the downside risk to inflation.”

The US dollar gained against the pound, the euro and the yen while the 10-year generic government yield went up by eight basis points to 2.14%.

Front month West Texas crude futures advanced by 0.036% to $55.95 per barrel while Brent crude increased by 1.137% to $60.70 per barrel.

Over on COMEX, gold futures dropped by 0.46% to $1,188.80.

Anadarko Petroleum went up 6.66% to 78.60, Fedex fell 3.72% to 167.78 and Cliffs Natural Resources plummeted 5.74% to 6.41.

S&P 500 - Risers
Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) $47.94 +10.06%
Noble Corporation plc (NE) $16.40 +9.41%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $11.49 +9.32%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $18.21 +8.52%
Newfield Exploration Co (NFX) $25.81 +8.45%
Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) $188.93 +8.31%
Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) $58.47 +8.08%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $65.02 +7.49%
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) $144.80 +7.42%
ONEOK Inc. (OKE) $47.49 +7.20%

S&P 500 - Fallers
XL Group Plc (XL) $33.66 -3.86%
FedEx Corp. (FDX) $167.78 -3.72%
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $43.28 -2.23%
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $108.55 -1.17%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $138.97 -1.10%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $43.42 -0.65%
Equifax Inc. (EFX) $79.10 -0.63%
Walgreen Co. (WAG) $71.99 -0.55%
Crown Castle International (CCI) $75.11 -0.48%
Raytheon Co. (RTN) $102.59 -0.45%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $106.02 +4.25%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $99.14 +3.43%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $91.65 +3.30%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $89.02 +3.02%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $41.55 +2.87%
American Express Co. (AXP) $90.44 +2.49%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $70.26 +2.39%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $59.77 +2.29%
Visa Inc. (V) $259.08 +2.24%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.44 +2.00%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $3.67 +11.55%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $333.65 +5.44%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $20.14 +4.11%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $205.82 +4.05%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $411.10 +3.78%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $75.43 +3.77%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $181.21 +3.44%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $107.95 +3.31%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $55.26 +3.16%
Discovery Communications Inc. Class A (DISCA) $34.22 +3.10%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Expeditors International Of Washington Inc. (EXPD) $43.28 -2.23%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $138.97 -1.10%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $43.42 -0.65%
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (CTSH) $51.00 -0.41%
Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (SIAL) $135.98 -0.09%
CH Robinson Worldwide Inc (CHRW) $71.88 -0.06%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $36.00 -0.06%