Federal Reserve Upbeat, Stocks Jump

Many investors were waiting for the Federal Reserve to weigh in on the current economic climate of the United States. After the Federal Reserve said that the nation’s economy is leveling out, that news was good enough to cause stocks to jump on Wednesday.

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While the Federal Reserve “leveling out” comment doesn’t sound like high praise, it was actually about as good as could have been expecting. Many market experts thought that it was possible that the Federal Reserve could still say the U.S. is still looking for the bottom of the current economic hardship.

The major stock indexes were up between 1.2% and 1.8%. The S&P 500 jumped 1.2% to finish at 1,005.81. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 1.3% to end Wednesday at 9,361.61. The Nasdaq composite index finished at 1,998.72 — a jump of 1.5%. The Russell 2000 went up 1.8% to finish at 572.17.

Companies in the technology and financial industries were some of the strongest risers on Wednesdays. The home building industry also received some good news.