Wall Street Stocks Continue Post-Election RallyWall Street stocks continued its strong rally November 15 despite the Federal Reserve's decision to leave the door open to higher interest rates.The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 26.54 at 10,707.60 points, extending its gain of 163.81 points Tuesday. Broader stock indicators were also higher. The technology heavy Nasdaq composite index closed up 27.22 at 3,165.49 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 6.86 to 1,389.81. The market gained a solid advance in the early trading after staging the first rally Tuesday since the U.S. presidential election on November 7. But investors retreated after the Federal Reserve's decision on the rates in the future.. The Federal Reserve announced in mid-afternoon that interest rates stay unchanged but it left the door open to more hikes in the rates because inflation remains a risk to the economy. The decision gave investors reason to fear falling profits. Stocks had been hit heavily because of worries about poor earnings as well as high oil prices and weak euro, the European currency. Stocks managed to rise at the close as the market made a late session rally despite the Federal Reserve's announcement. Intel and Microsoft rose, lifting the Nasdaq index out of the negative territory. Among blue chips, retailer gained, continuing their advance on strong earnings reports Tuesday. Wal-Mart soared. The NYSE index closed up 2.57 at 651.09 and the American Stock Exchange index ended at 901.74, up 2.37. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies closed up 4.88 at 491.79. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 13-to-11 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,666 up, 1,200 down and 479 unchanged. NYSE volume declined to 1.06 billion shares from 1.10 billion in the previous session. |
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