S&P 500 Reaches New Record Closing High After Fed Announcement

(RTTNews) - With traders reacting positively to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The gains on the day extended the upward move seen over the past few sessions.

Most of the major sectors moved to the upside over the course of the session, with significant strength visible among gold stocks. The NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index surged up by 2.5 percent, reaching its best closing level in well over a month.

The strength among gold stocks came amid a slight increase by the price of the precious metal, as gold for August delivery inched up $0.70 to $1,272.70 an ounce.

Interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks also moved sharply higher on the day, driving the Dow Jones Utilities Average up by 2 percent. With the gain, the average reached a new record closing high.

Considerable strength also emerged among electronic storage stocks, as reflected by the 1.9 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Disk Drive Index. The gain extended a recent rally by the index, which reached its best closing level in over two months.

Steel, transportation, internet, and oil stocks also saw notable strength, reflecting the broad based buying interest that emerged on Wall Street.

The major averages all closed firmly positive, with the S&P 500 jumping 14.99 points or 0.8 percent to a new record closing high of 1,956.98. The Dow rose 98.13 point or 0.6 percent to 16,906.62, while the Nasdaq climbed 25.60 points or 0.6 percent to a fourteen-year closing high of 4,362.84.