U.S. Stocks turn Positive as Investors digest Fed Statement

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to trade mildly higher Wednesday as investors digested the Federal Reserve statement.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates at zero and provided only faint clues about when the first hike in nine years might occur.

The Dow Jones industrial average traded about 30 points higher after briefly falling more than 40 points.. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was 2.36 percent, near earlier levels.

The Federal Open Market Committee concluded its two-day meeting in the afternoon. The statement was due at 2:00 p.m. ET and Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m.

Stocks traded lower ahead of the release, giving back opening gains.

With consensus for a September rate hike, most investors did not expect major policy changes from the central bank’s announcement.

“I think we’re going to stay in this trading range,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at RW Baird. He noted that, in an encouraging sign, the S&P 500 twice held support at the 2,070 level, once last week and once on Monday. As stocks climb, he said 2,120 is the resistance level.

However, analysts noted anticipations of a hawkish statement. Bond yields rose, with the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield gaining more than 5 basis points to 2.38 percent and the 2-year yield near 0.74 percent. The 10-year German bund yield gained to trade around 0.81 percent.

The dollar traded flat, with the euro near $1.125 and the greenback higher against the yen at 124.18 yen.

“I think investors are on edge right now awaiting some direction from the Fed and the Greek crisis,” said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management.

Greek negotiator Euclid Tsakalotos said in a Reuters report that the country is willing to make concessions but pension cuts cannot be on the agenda. He confirmed that Athens does not have enough funds to make the debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund due on June 30.

The European Central Bank raised the Emergency Liquidity Assistance for Greece to 84.1 euros from 83.0 euros.

Greek banks are reliant on this funding and analysts warn that if the central bank curbs this liquidity, Greece may have no option but to impose capital controls.

European stocks closed lower as caution ahead of the Fed and ECB meetings weighed, while Chinese stocks closed higher. Japan’s blue-chip Nikkei 225 stock index ended a touch lower.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday as the Fed began its two-day meeting and investors attempted to shake off worries about Greece debt talks, which reached an impasse over the weekend.

Symbol	Name	Price		Change	%Change
DJIA	Dow Jones Industrial Average	17934.27		29.79	0.17%
S&P 500	S&P 500 Index	2099.74		3.45	0.16%
NASDAQ	Nasdaq Composite Index	5065.94		10.39	0.21%

FedEx fell more than 3.5 percent to weigh on the Dow transports after the company missed earnings and revenue expectations on Wednesday.

Financials reversed after initially gaining, with Capital One Financial, SunTrust, KeyCorp, People’s United Financialand Northern Trust touching multi-year highs.

Microsoft reversed to trade lower after the company’s announced changes to its executive team. The reshuffle includes the departure of Stephen Elop, executive vice president of Microsoft Devices Group and the former CEO of Nokia.

Starbucks hit an all-time high on news the firm will close all 23 of its La Boulange retail locations by the end of September.

Oracle is among a handful of companies reporting earnings after the close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down 48 points, or 0.27 percent, at 17,854, with American Express leading advancers and UnitedHealth the greatest decliner.

The S&P 500 traded down 6 points, or 0.28 percent, at 2,090, with telecommunications leading all 10 sectors lower.

The Nasdaq traded down 8 points, or 0.15 percent, at 5,047.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded below 15.

Two stocks declined for every advancer on the New York Stock Exchange, with an exchange volume of 325 million and a composite volume of 1.6 billion as of 1:46 p.m.

Crude oil futures fell 93 cents to $59.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell $5.10 to $1,175.80 an ounce in early afternoon trade.

Source: CNBC