Investing.com - U.S. shares drifted higher on Wednesday after the Fed held steady but issued an upbeat view of the economy.
The Dow Jones rose 0.14%, while the S&P 500 inched up 0.04% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.52%.
The Federal Reserve held its fire on interest rates as widely expected on Wednesday, but was optimistic on the outlook for the economy in keeping its benchmark overnight lending rate target at 0.5% to 0.75% following a 25 basis point hike in December.
“Measures of consumer and business sentiment have improved of late,” the committee said in its statement, using new language that jibes with voices on Wall Street following the election of Donald Trump as president.
As well, U.S. non-farm private employment rose much more than expected in January, boosting optimism over the health of the labor market, industry data showed on Wednesday.
Payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose by a seasonally adjusted 246,000 last month, easily surpassing forecasts for an increase of 165,000.
The report set the stage for expectations in the official government report on Friday for the creation of 175,000 nonfarm payrolls.
In other positive economic news, the U.S. manufacturing sector showed its fastest pace of growth in more than two years, bolstering optimism over the economy in the first month of 2017.
In earnings news, mostly positive tech results were responsible for the slight gains seen in the Nasdaq on Wednesday. Shares in Apple (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AAPL) jumped more than 5% after the company reported quarterly revenue that topped analyst projections late Tuesday, fueled by demand for its latest iPhone.
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AMD) soared nearly 13% after reporting a smaller loss for the fourth quarter and the midpoint of the chip maker’s first quarter revenue guidance topped consensus.
In other company news, automakers reported mixed U.S. auto sales for January, with General Motors (NYSE:NYSE:GM) posting a 3.8 percent decline while crosstown rival Ford Motor (NYSE:NYSE:F) topped analysts forecasts on strong truck sales.