Stocks struggled for direction most of the afternoon, but the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all ended up snapping their two-day losing streaks. Though there's still some angst over the Federal Reserve's latest plans, Wall Street cautiously rotated back into the tech sector today. Investors also unpacked better-than-expected initial weekly jobless claims data, which came in at 166,000 for last week -- their lowest level since 1968. Plus, U.S. consumer credit soared to an 11.3% annual rate in February, after the previous month's 2.4% gain.
The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 34,583.57) added 87.1 points or 0.3% for the day. Merck & Co (MRK) led the gainers with a 2.2% rise, while Visa (V) dropped to the bottom of the index with a 1.3% loss.
The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 4,500.21) gained 19.1 points, or 0.4%, for the day, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 13,897.30) rose 8.5 points, or 0.06% in today's session.
Lastly, the Cboe Market Volatility Index (VIX - 21.55) lost 0.6 points or 2.5% for the day.
GOLD PRICES RISE AFTER FED UPDATE
Oil prices inched lower, extending yesterday's three-week low. May-dated West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 20 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $96.03 a barrel.
After a volatile price movement following the Fed's monetary policy update, gold prices rose for the day. June-dated gold climbed $14.70, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,937.80 an ounce -- its highest settlement in a week.
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