The Dow Jones industrial average briefly turned positive for the year, led by a 4.76 percent rise in Nike which announced a $12 billion share buyback and a 2-for-1 share split.
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In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index closed the session with a 0.4 percent increase from the previous close.
According to the minutes from the Fed’s October meeting, most participants anticipated that it would be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate at its next meeting, given the improving economic conditions.
“The market has grown comfortable with the idea of a dovish hike”, Mark Dowding, a London-based money manager at BlueBay Asset Management, told Bloomberg.
Shares of UnitedHealth slumped after the country’s largest health insurer downgraded its 2015 earnings outlook and said it may exit Obamacare.
Tax software company Intuit posted fiscal first-quarter results that pleased investors, pushing its stock 10 per cent higher. On the Nasdaq, 1,244 issues rose and 1,082 fell.
UnitedHealth shares climbed 2.1 per cent to $US112.97. It also sent the shares of competitors Anthem and Aetna down more than 6% each.
Other data on Thursday showed a slight pick-up in factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region in November after two straight months of declines, in a hopeful sign for the struggling manufacturing sector.
The January contract settled down at $41.72 per barrel Thursday, while the December contract fell 21 cents at $40.54 per barrel. Gap and Urban Outfitters each reported better than expected earnings.
Investors are increasingly pondering the pace of more rate increases in 2016, said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in NY.
What this means is that market participants have started seeing the Fed’s lift-off decision as a vote of confidence in the health of the US economy. However, he added a stronger USA dollar and higher interest rates could prove challenging for the USA next year.
US stocks were also higher amid monetary policy talk from the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, slightly rose 0.83 percent to end at 16.99 on Thursday.
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The Fed has taken such pains that many several emerging market and other central bankers for a few time have been telling the Fed to just do it. Fischer added that it remains to be seen whether the emerging market countries in Asia and the world are sufficiently prepared for the potential capital flows and market adjustments so that there are no major macroeconomic consequences.
