US stocks rally after Fed signals no 2019 rate hikes

NEW YORK: US stocks rallied and the dollar retreated Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled it expects no interest rate hikes in 2019.

Near 1815 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 25,855.10, down 0.1 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 was up less than 0.1 percent at 2,833.68, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 percent to 7,746.53.

Prior to the 1800 GMT news release, all three indices had been decisively negative.

The Fed's forecast on 2019 rate hikes was a shift from the prior projection of two interest rate hikes this year and came as the US central bank trimmed its growth forecast.

Since the Fed's last meeting, "growth of economic activity has slowed from its solid rate in the fourth quarter," the central bank said.

The central bank voted unanimously to keep the key rate unchanged at 2.25 to 2.5 percent, reflecting the slowdown world's largest economy.

The dollar also pulled back sharply following the announcement. The euro traded at $1.1409, up from $1.1351 about thirty minutes before the Fed release.