Market report

As Fed holds, stocks sag, then rise

Trader Gordon Charlop works Wednesday on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Trader Gordon Charlop works Wednesday on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

NEW YORK -- 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 neared a six-month high. Technology stocks were battered by weak results from Apple and Twitter.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 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.

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. But 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. "What they can't do is just coast into the June meeting having not given anybody any indication at all."

Bond prices were rising before the Fed's announcement and moved even higher after its statement was released. Higher prices mean lower yields, and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 1.86 percent from 1.93 percent. Lower bond yields made telecommunications and utility stocks more appealing to investors seeking income. Verizon Communications gained $1.25, or 2.5 percent, to $51.69. NRG Energy added 43 cents, or 3 percent, to $14.98.

The price of crude oil started with big gains, turned lower, and then bounced back. It 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, the international standard, added $1.44, or 3.1 percent, to $47.18 a barrel in London.

Among energy stocks, Anadarko Petroleum added $2.42, or 4.6 percent, to $54.78 and Diamond Offshore Drilling gained 98 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $24.63.

Tech stocks fell after Apple, the most valuable public company in the world, said iPhone sales declined in the first quarter. That hadn't happened since iPhones went on sale in 2007. Apple also reported its first decline in quarterly revenue since 2003 and forecast similar results in the current quarter. Its stock skidded $6.53, or 6.3 percent, to $97.82.

Microblogging site Twitter dropped $2.89, or 16.3 percent, to $14.86 after its first-quarter revenue fell short of expectations and its outlook disappointed investors. Its stock has fallen 71 percent in the past year.

Shares of tax preparer H&R Block slumped $3.23, or 13.6 percent, to $20.59 after the company said it handled fewer returns this year than it did in 2015 and announced a series of executive changes.

The price of gold rose $7 to $1,250.40 an ounce. Silver gained 18 cents, or 1 percent, to $17.29 an ounce. Copper fell 3 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $2.22 a pound.

The dollar slipped to 111.34 yen from 111.41 yen. The euro rose to $1.1323 from $1.1291.

Business on 04/28/2016

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