Stocks remained higher Wednesday but pared gains as the Fed offered no surprises in its latest statement, backing its pledge to keep rate slow for an "extended period."
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, as expected. And, while it noted improvements in the economy — specifically in employment and housing — it renewed its "extended period" pledge.
"The Fed's statement is welcome news for equity investors," said Todd Schoenberger, managing director of LandColt Trading. "[M]aintaining the current policy is ideal for investors in need of yield. Look for more of the $1.5 trillion sitting on the sidelines begin to migrate back into equities in early 2010."
Heading into today's statement, investors were concerned about inflation and what the Fed might say about rates after a report Tuesday showed producer prices surged 1.8 percent last month.
Those fears began to subside this morning after a report showed that inflation wasn't translating to the consumer level — consumer prices rose just 0.4 percentin November, and that was largely due to a jump in energy costs. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy components, were flat.
Economists — and even the Fed — said inflation isn't going to be a threat anytime soon.
"Most of these increases will reverse in December/January in the wake of the drop in oil prices," Ian Sheperdson of High Frequency Economics points out in a note to clients. "In short, the downward pressure on core inflation continues," he said.
In their statement, Fed policy makers said, "[T]he committee expects that inflation will remain subdued for some time."
The dollar declined, unable to push the euro below $1.45. Oil rose, topping $73 a barrel, after a report showed crude inventories dropped by 3.7 million barrels last week. Gold rose to nearly $1,140 an ounce.
In the morning's other economic news: Housing starts rose 8.9 percentlast month, though it was less than expected, and mortgage applications rose for a third straight weeklast week.
The U.S. current account deficit widened as expected in the third quarter to $108 billion.
Investors are watching Citigroup today as its secondary offering is expected to price tonight. The buzz is that it will be between $3.30 and $3.35 a share. The other big news related to Citi is that the US has agreed to forgo billions in taxeson its bailout of the banking giant.
Wells Fargoraised about $12.25 billionin its stock offering on Tuesday to help repay a $25 billion bailout received from the U.S. government last year.
General Electric shares rose after Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan raised their price targets on the stock to $20.
Honeywell delivered an outlook that fell short of Wall Street's expectations.
And Intel is facing antitrust charges from the FTC, which accuses the chip giant of using its size to snuff out the competition.
Intel shares fell nearly 2 percent, while shares of rival AMD jumped more than 5 percent.
Adobe Systems delivered a mixed report after the bell: It beat earnings expectations but withheld a 2010 forecast, saying it all depends on the economy.
