By Anora Mahmudova and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. stock market moved higher
after the FOMC minutes revealed that policy-makers decided to end
the Fed's bond purchases by October if the economy stays on
track.
The Fed will make a $15 billion final reduction at its October
meeting, after trimming it by $10 billion at each meeting up to
that point.
The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 8 points, or 0.4%, to 1,971.78. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 72 points, or 0.4%, to
16,979.40. The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 26 points, or 0.6%, to
4,417.70.
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action.
"In the short-term, we are concerned that there is a bit of
optimism about the second-quarter earnings. Expectations for
overall markets are high and this lead to some short-term downside
if companies come short," said Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at
Schaeffer's Investment Research.
"We believe this quarter financials are likely to surprise on
the upside, just because there is too much skepticism about the
sector, the only one to deliver negative growth," Bell added.
Alcoa Inc. (AA) shares rallied 6.1% after the company said it
swung to a second-quarter profit late Tuesday.
Shares of Gigamon Inc.(GIMO) sank 33% after the
networking-hardware company lowered its second-quarter revenue
guidance on Tuesday.
Container Store Group Inc. (TCS) shares plunged 9.5% after the
organization-product company posted a loss of 7 cents, a penny more
than expected. (Read more in Movers and Shakers column:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alcoa-container-store-wd-40-are-stocks-to-watch-2014-07-09.)
In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 headed for its fourth
day in the red, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng index lost 1.6% after
softer-than-expected inflation data from China.
Crude-oil prices (CLQ4) were largely stable, while gold (GCQ4)
moved higher. The dollar (DXY) was mostly higher.
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