Plunging Apple shares weighed on USA stocks on Wednesday, but the Dow and S&P 500 rose after the Federal Reserve offered a somewhat more optimistic view of the global economy.
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The technology giant announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 26, 2016 after Tuesday’s closing bell, which showed the company experienced its first year-on-year slump in both quarterly revenue and profit since 2003 and the first ever drop in iPhone sales.
Higher oil prices meanwhile lifted petroleum-linked shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) turned higher around midday, and kept the upward momentum going after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided not to change interest rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 51.23 points, or 0.28 percent, to 18,041.55, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.45 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,095.15 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 25.14 points, or 0.51 percent, to 4,863.14.
Investors are awaiting a Fed decision on rates at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT).
The S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher for the day after the Fed statement, but the Nasdaq (NasdaqGS: NDAQ – news) fell on disappointing earnings from Apple and Twitter late Tuesday, and the index has lost almost 5.0 percent in the past week.
First-quarter earnings from S&P 500 components are expected to have fallen 7.1% from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
During the regular session, Exxon Mobil shares hit their highest level since May 2015 after the energy company raised its quarterly dividend to 75 cents from 73 cents.
USA government bonds strengthened Wednesday for the first time in eight days as investors welcomed the latest signal from the Federal Reserve that it would proceed cautiously in raising interest rates.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.4-to-1 ratio and on the Nasdaq a 1.14-to-1 ratio favoured advancers.
Europe’s oil and gas sector gained, also bolstered by better-than-expected earnings results from StatoilSTO 1.75 % and Total.
Greece’s benchmark ATG equity index fell 3.7 percent, making it the worst-performing market in the region. Twitter (TWTR.N) tumbled more than 15 percent after quarterly revenue lagged expectations.
DreamWorks Animation soared 19 percent to $32.27 after the Wall Street Journal reported Comcast is in talks to buy the Hollywood studio owner. The company said attendance climbed 37 percent in the first quarter. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 closed 0.4 percent lower.
Gold managed to muscle higher as lackluster economic data pressured the dollar, but the malleable metal lost some momentum after-hours following the Fed’s policy announcement.
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The British pound was up 0.2% against the dollar at $1.4610 after United Kingdom growth figures came in broadly in line with expectations.
