Dow Sets Record Closing High Following Fed Announcement

(RTTNews) - Stocks saw some volatility following the release of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday but managed to end the day modestly higher. With the upward move, the Dow reached a new record closing high.

The modestly higher close on Wall Street reflected a positive reaction to the statement from the Fed, which was largely unchanged from July.

Traders seemed pleased that the Fed reiterated its pledge to keep interest rates low for a "considerable time" as well as its assessment that "there remains significant underutilization of labor resources."

While many of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, significant strength remained visible among railroad stocks. The Dow Jones Railroads Index surged up by 1.8 percent to a new record closing high.

Greenbrier (GBX) and Kansas City Southern (KSU) turned in two of the railroad sector's best performances, jumping by 3 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.

Housing stocks also saw considerable strength on the day, driving the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index up by 1.6 percent. Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) helped lead the sector higher after reporting better than expected third quarter results.

The strength among housing stocks also came following the release of a report from the National Association of Home Builders showing that homebuilder confidence jumped to a nearly nine-year high in September.

Brokerage, steel, and semiconductor stocks also saw some strength on the day, while gold and oil service stocks came under pressure along with the prices of their associated commodities.

The major averages ended the day in positive territory but well off their best levels. The Dow rose 24.88 points or 0.2 percent to 17,156.85, the Nasdaq climbed 9.43 points or 0.2 percent to 4,562.19 and the S&P 500 crept up 2.59 points or 0.1 percent to 2,001.57.