U.S. markets settle higher as Fed keeps interest rates unchanged

The U.S. markets settled higher on Wednesday following the Fed decision to keep its policy interest rate unchanged. The Fed held its policy interest rate steady within the 3.75%-4% range, in line with market expectations, citing economic activity expanding at a strong pace. The gains in Wall Street also came as chipmakers recovered from a recent selloff, with strong results from South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix supporting optimism around demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. On the economic data front, a report released by the Energy Information Administration showed U.S. crude oil inventories declined by more than expected in the week ended October 23. The EIA said crude oil inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels last week after decreasing by 3.1 million barrels in the previous week. The street had expected crude oil inventories to edge down by 0.3 million barrels. It said at 410.6 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are 4 percent below five-year average for this time of year.

Nasdaq increased by 72.04 points or 0.27 percent to 26,549.85, S&P 500 rose by 21.38 points or 0.28 percent to 7,743.98 and Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 97.53 points or 0.19 percent to 52,475.1.