Stocks closed slightly lower at the end of Wednesday's session after the Federal Reserve maintained its ultra-accommodative monetary policy in its latest decision. The S&P 500 held near a flat-line, while the Dow and Nasdaq slipped lower into the red.
The Federal Open Market Committee concluded its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday with the central bank keeping interest rates between 0.0-0.25%. The Fed also upgraded its assessment of the economy and commented on rising inflation.
"Amid progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened," FOMC said in its April statement. "The sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain week but have shown improvement. Inflation has risen, largely reflecting transitory factors."
"With inflation running persistently below this longer-run goal, the Committee will aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2% for some time so that inflation averages 2% over time and longer‑term inflation expectations remain well anchored at 2%. The Committee expects to maintain an accommodative stance of monetary policy until these outcomes are achieved," the committee added.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
For Stocks, Boeing
For Sector Performance, sectors ended Wednesday's session mixed with Energy
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar
For Thursday, investors will turn their attention to the Labor Department's latest weekly unemployment claims data, and react to quarterly earnings reports from Apple