NEW YORK (dailynewyorknews) – U.S. stocks shaved early losses and end Wednesday afternoon after more than the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep interest rates near historic lows until the end 2014.

The Fed, which issued a statement at the end of a policy of noon, two days of the meeting on Wednesday, had previously said it would keep rates low until mid-2013.

Main tool for the Fed to stimulate the economy, the federal funds rate is the interest rate banks charge each other for overnight loans. Keep historic lows since the Fed has done since 2008, is intended to stimulate spending by lowering interest rates on everything from mortgages to auto loans and student.

After the announcement of the Fed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) gained 83 points, or 0.7%, after losing as much as 95 points earlier in the day. The S & P 500 (SPX) added 11 points, or 0.9%, after losing 7 points above.
Fed to keep rates low until 2014

The Nasdaq (COMP), followed by reverse, adding 32 points, or 1.1%. The software company CA (CA) and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) are among the biggest winners of the technology heavy index, by better than expected earnings.

“Investors are certainly encouraged by the promise of the Fed to remain accommodative for the coming years, but they also ask why the Fed is so conservative that we have not seen economic data quite well recently,” said Mark Lamkin, CEO Lamkin Wealth Management.

In addition to keeping rates low, the Fed chief, Ben Bernanke, also left the door open for further stimulus policies, including a third round of the purchase of bonds, a policy known as quantitative easing or QE3.

At a press conference after the statement, Bernanke said “the expansion of the balance sheet is certainly an option” for the Fed, and the central bank would consider “very carefully whether, in particular, progress towards full employment – has become more and more inadequate, or if inflation remained unusually low. ”

“The Fed is in a wait and see mode,” said Lamkin. “They say they are encouraged by the signs, but not so convinced that they are willing to take the economy and juice markets. ”

Apple earnings Wednesday provides a positive effect, especially in the technology sector.
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Tuesday night, the manufacturer of the iPhone and the iPad posted a quarterly profit of a whopping $ 13000000000 – the best quarter ever of a technology company. The company said sales for the quarter hit $ 46.3 billion, sending share rose 6.2% Wednesday. Apple beat earnings helped Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) that the most valuable U.S. company.

Meanwhile, investors are also looking to the ongoing negotiations in Greece with representatives of private sector creditors to reduce debt. Officials resume informal talks on Thursday in Athens.

Greece is in desperate need of an agreement to receive additional funds to rescue the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Without these funds, the country may not be able to make a debt payment of € 14 billion that are due March 20.

U.S. stocks finished mostly in red Tuesday as investors went through the business results and the expected progress of Greece.

Global markets: Europe ended the day mixed. UK FTSE 100 (UKX) lost 0.5%, the DAX (DAX) for Germany rose slightly, and the French CAC 40 (CAC40) decreased by 0.3%.
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The British government reported a 0.2% decline in fourth quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity due to the weakness of the productive sectors and construction.

Meanwhile, the German IFO index, a closely watched indicator of business confidence rose in January, indicating that the German economy may be gathering steam. The positive relationship is an auction of 30-year bonds attracted strong demand in Germany.

Markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed Wednesday for the Chinese New Year. Nikkei in Japan (N225) finished 1% higher.

Economy: The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged from 0.25% as analysts expected.

The Fed also announced future projections for the federal funds rate for the first time Wednesday, and their outlook on the economy and the labor market.
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The central bank said it expects the unemployment rate falls to between 8.2% and 8.5% in 2012, an improvement over what was expected in November.

But the Fed also expects the economy to grow between 2.2% and 2.7% this year, slightly slower than previously thought.

For this reason, most of the policies of the Fed funds rate should remain close to zero for the foreseeable future.

The pending home sales for December fell 3.5% after rising 7.3% the previous month. Economists had expected sales to decline by 3%.

Companies: Shares of Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) was higher than the aircraft manufacturer has reported an increase in quarterly profit and revenue. Previous actions have been reduced because the company issued a disappointing full-year earnings guidance.

Delta (DAL, Fortune 500) reported quarterly earnings well above expectations, sending shares in the airline later.
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Shares of Ericsson (ERIC) plunged after the maker of Swedish telecommunications equipment declined by 66% in quarterly profit, driven by the network of weak sales.

Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) reported quarterly significantly quieter than Apple, posting gains in line with analysts’ expectations after the close of Tuesday. The shares fell.

Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) fell one day after the graphics chip maker cut fourth-quarter sales outlook, citing a shortage of hard drives.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD, Fortune 500) also reported earnings on Tuesday, posting earnings that missed expectations. But the actions of the semiconductor company increased slightly.

After the closing bell, Netflix (NFLX) said it has begun to add new customers last quarter, a sign that the company is recovering from a series of failures damaged its reputation with consumers and investors. Netflix also beat earnings and sales estimates in the corner, and the share rose 10% in after-hours trading.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/25/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?iid=HP_LN&hpt=ibu_c2