With traders reacting positively to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading session on Wednesday. With the rally on the day, the major averages reached their best closing levels in nearly two months.
The major averages pulled back off their highs of the session in the final hour of trading but remained firmly positive. The Dow surged up 434.90 points or 1.8 percent to 25,014.86, the Nasdaq soared 154.79 points or 2.2 percent to 7,183.08 and the S&P 500 jumped 41.05 points or 1.6 percent to 2,681.05.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.