Stocks soared Wednesday after traders interpreted the Federal Reserve's latest policy statement as market-friendly.
The Fed said it remains concerned about inflation, but in referring to future policy moves as "adjustments" rather than "firming," traders interpreted the wording change as a move toward a neutral bias from a tightening bias.
The hint of a rate cut was all stocks needed to take off, and strong results from Oracle and Adobe helped send the Nasdaq 2% higher on the day.
ICF and Telestone gained on their results, while SanDisk rose on a licensing deal with Hynix.
Microsemi and Nvidia gained on upgrades.
Palm rose once again on takeover speculation.
FSI shed 14% on a widening loss.
After the close, Motorola fell on a warning and changes at the top.
The Nasdaq soared 48 to 2455, the S&P 500 gained 24 to 1435, and the Dow surged 159 to 12,447. Volume rose to 3.18 billion shares on the NYSE, and 2.25 billion on the Nasdaq. Advancing issues led by a 26-6 margin on the NYSE, and 22-7 on the Nasdaq. Upside volume was 91% on the NYSE, and 87% on the Nasdaq. New highs-new lows were 247-21 on the NYSE, and 133-50 on the Nasdaq.
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