NEW YORK, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and signaled no immediate appetite for rate hikes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 29.58 points, or 0.11 percent, to 27,911.30. The S&P 500 rose 9.11 points, or 0.29 percent, to 3,141.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 37.87 points, or 0.44 percent, to 8,654.05.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed's policy-making committee, decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent after concluding a two-day policy meeting, in line with market expectations.
"The Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook, including global developments and muted inflation pressures, as it assesses the appropriate path of the target range for the federal funds rate," the Fed said in a statement.
"The FOMC left interest rates unchanged today with no dissents. The dot plot shows no change in rates next year," Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial, commented on the Fed's statement.
The Fed has lowered interest rates three times since July, amid growing risks and uncertainties stemming from trade tensions, weakness in global growth and muted inflation pressures.
On the economic front, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers rose 0.3 percent in November, following a 0.4 percent rise in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.
The core CPI, which stripes out food and energy, rose 0.2 percent in November, the same increase as in October.
