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 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.
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. But David Kelly, chief global strategist JPMorgan Chase, said that might be a problem because the Fed didn’t make its intentions clear on 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.
The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 51.23 points, or 0.28 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.
The price of crude oil wound up at its highest price since early December. Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose $1.29, or 2.9 percent, to close at $45.33 a barrel in New York. Brent crude added $1.44, or 3.1 percent, to $47.18 a barrel in London.
Tech stocks fell after Apple, the most valuable public company in the world, said iPhone sales declined in the first quarter. Apple stock skidded $6.53, or 6.3 percent, to $97.82. Twitter dropped $2.89, or 16.3 percent, to $14.86.
