US stocks end mixed after Fed statement

A television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the rate decision by the Federal Reserve, as specialist Jeffrey Berger works at his post, Wednesday, July 31, 2013. US stocks Wednesday ended little changed after a busy day of news that included a policy statement from the Federal Reserve and a mixed report on US economic growth. AP PHOTO/RICHARD DREW

NEW YORK CITY—US stocks Wednesday ended little changed after a busy day of news that included a policy statement from the Federal Reserve and a mixed report on US economic growth.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 15.13 (0.10 percent) at 15,505.46.

The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.13 (0.01 percent) to 1,686.09, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 9.90 (0.27 percent) at 3,626.37.

Second-quarter US gross domestic product grew 1.7 percent, above the 1.1 percent pace expected by analysts. However, the report also included a steep downgrade in first-quarter GDP growth, which is now estimated at 1.1 percent instead of 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded a two-day meeting with a statement that economic growth was at a “modest” pace and pledging to maintain its aggressive bond-buying program. The statement did not give a timetable for scaling back the bond-buying program.

Art Hogan, a managing director at Lazard Capital Markets, rated the Fed’s statement as “mildly dovish” and suggesting that the Fed was more likely to taper the program in December than September.

US bond yields retreated after the FOMC statement.