US stocks fell overnight in a choppy trade as the Federal Reserve announcement showed that the central bank remained cautious to the economy outlook. The Federal Reserve acknowledged the economy is emerging from recession, but maintained its near-zero interest rate and trillion-plus dollar effort to support the fragile recovery.
After a modest setback on Monday, US shares climbed overnight to a fresh high as investors returned to the market on upbeat outlook on the economy. Meanwhile, positive company earnings reports also helped to lift the market sentiment.
Wall Street closed mixed on Monday ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave the near-zero interest rate unchanged, but may begin scaling back some economic stimulus. Traders moved into technology and health care shares amid concerns the energy, materials and financials were overbought.
Wall Street Friday climbed to a fresh 2009 high as analysts boosted their growth outlook for the US. The market was inspired after Barclay's Capital raised its forecast for the nation's GDP growth in first three months of next year to five per cent from three per cent. For the week, Dow index posted a gain of 215 points.
Wall Street ended its three-day rally after mixed economic data overnight. New claims for unemployment benefits in the US fell for the second consecutive week, but housing starts rose a less-than-expected 1.5 per cent compared with the prior month.
Overnight Wall Street posed a solid gain as an upbeat sentiment that the worst is over increased investors' appetite for riskier assets. The shares were lifted by a round of buying in financial shares and a jump in US industrial production data.
Wall Street closed modestly higher on Tuesday after positive US economic data. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke also said the "recession is very likely over at this point". US retail sales were surprisingly strong in August largely due to government's "cash for clunkers" program, but analysts warned that it may not represent a sustainable recovery in consumer spending.
