By Anora Mahmudova and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
Twitter jumps
NEW YORK (MarketWatch)--U.S. stocks pared losses on Wednesday
afternoon, with the S&P 500 turning positive, as the Federal
Reserve appeared to soothe fears that it might start raising
interest rates sooner than anticipated.
The S&P 500 (SPX) was up 3 points, or 0.2%, at 1,973, while
the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lost 9 points, or 0.1% to
16,903, but traded well off its session low.
Follow MarketWatch's live blog of today's stock-market
action.
In a statement at 2 p.m. Eastern, the Fed on Wednesday said the
economy is improving but emphasized that significant slack remains
in the labor market. The central bank gave no hint of timing of the
first rate hike and repeated that it expects the lift off to come a
"considerable time" after the end of its bond-buying program.
Earlier Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Dow gave up early gains
and turned negative.
A second-quarter GDP report showed the economy "really bounced
back nicely," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Rockwell Global Capital, in a phone interview. But Cardillo noted
the GDP report also featured a higher inflation reading, and that
could have sparked selling on worries that the Fed statement at 2
p.m. would be hawkish.
Meanwhile, tech stocks were shining amid a buying frenzy in
Twitter Inc. (TWTR) after the social media network's results blew
past forecasts. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 25 points, or
0.6%, to 4,468.
Separately, the 218,000 jobs added by the private sector in July
fell short of Wall Street expectations. Still, it was the fourth
straight month in which that part of the economy has added more
than 200,000 jobs.
Twitter rules
Shares of Twitter leapt 22% as analysts moved up price targets
in the wake of blowout results.
Humana(HUM) shares fell 5% after the health care insurer's
profit came in slightly short of expectations, but sales beat
forecasts.
Sprint (S) dropped 2% after the mobile-phone company swung to a
profit in the second quarter, as the pace of subscriber losses
slowed.
Amgen(AMGN) shares rose 6% after the company posted a 23% rise
in earnings, and announced a 15% cut in its workforce as part of a
restructuring program late Tuesday. (Read more about the day's
notable movers here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/twitter-amex-yelp-among-stocks-to-watch-2014-07-29.)
Spain stocks rise, Russian blue-chip index surges
European stocks closed mostly lower, while Hong Kong stocks rose
for a seventh straight session.
The Russia MICEX index of blue-chips surged more than 2% on
Wednesday, which one analyst said is because the new sanctions
don't affect the country's key gas sector. Some strategists
maintain, though, that Russia stocks remain a tricky bet in wake of
those sanctions.
In other markets, crude oil (CLU4) and gold (GCQ4) both lost
ground.
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