Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed on Wednesday, wavering in a volatile final hour of trade, as investors reacted to an unsurprising decision from the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady for a fifth consecutive meeting.
In a 9-1 vote, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left the target range on its benchmark Federal Funds Rate unchanged at a level between 0.25 and 0.50% on Wednesday at a two-day meeting in Washington D.C. At the same time, the FOMC provided few signals that a rate hike could be forthcoming in September, despite judging that that near term risks to the economic outlook have diminished while economic activity has expanded at a moderate rate. Initially, stocks on the major indices moved higher following the release, before falling back as yields on U.S. 2-Year and U.S. 10-Year Treasuries unexpectedly moved lower.
As a result, the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched down 1.58 or 0.01% to 18,472.17, suffering its first three-day losing streak since early-June. The NASDAQ Composite index added 29.76 or 0.58% to 5,139.81, while the S&P 500 Composite index fell 2.60 or 0.12% to 2,166.58, both remaining near record-highs. On the S&P 500, six of 10 sectors closed in the red, as stocks in the Utilities, Energy and Consumer Goods industries fell by more than 1%. Stocks in the Technology, Health Care and Telecom sectors led.
The top performer on the Dow was Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which surged 6.72 or 6.95% to 103.39. It came one day after the tech giant sold more than iPhones than expected during the third quarter and provided optimistic forward guidance ahead of a planned launch of the iPhone 7 in September. Over the three-month period, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) sold 40.4 million iPhones, slightly topping analysts' forecasts of 40.2 million. Also on Wednesday, Apple announced that it sold its billionth iPhone marking a key milestone for the company.
The worst performer was Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), which fell 1.40 or 3.12% to 43.48. Earlier, Coca-Cola missed analysts' quarterly revenue forecasts amid severe global foreign exchange headwinds. In light of slowing conditions in emerging markets such as China and Argentina, Coca-Cola slashed its full-year estimates for organic revenue growth to 3% for 2016. Prior to the report, the multinational soft-drink company expected to see annual organic growth of 4-5%.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Illumina Inc (NASDAQ:ILMN), which surged 12.15 or 8.09% to 162.25. Ilumina finished just ahead of Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc (NASDAQ:BMRN), which jumped 6.07 or 6.60% to 98.09. On Wednesday, Biomarin unveiled successful results from a comprehensive trial for its new gene therapy devoted to helping treat hemophilia. Biomarin, a San Rafael, California-based biotech company, said it will now embark on a similar study aimed at gaining regulatory approval in both the U.S. and Europe. The worst performer was Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:AKAM), which plummeted 7.58 or 13.05% to 50.51. Shares in the Boston-area content delivery network and cloud services provider are still up more than 25% over the last six months.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1,597-1,379 margin.