Stocks rose for most of Wednesday's session, falling after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept a key short-term interest rate near zero. Except for the Dow industrials, stocks still managed gains. The Fed chose to hold a key interest rate near zero and said that “the pace of economic contraction is slowing.” In economic news, U.S. durable-goods orders rose 1.8 percent in May, in contrast to economists' expectation for a decline. New home sales rose more than expected in April, a second government report said. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery fell 58 cents to $68.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.05, or 0.3 percent, to 8,299.86. Technology shares IBM, Intel, and Microsoft gained. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.84, or 0.65 percent, to 900.94. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 27.42, or 1.55 percent, to 1,792.34. Oracle reported weaker quarterly sales and profits that surpassed estimates, and shares of the world's second-biggest software maker jumped 7 percent. The New York Stock Exchange composite index rose 36.23 to 5,795.72. The American Stock Exchange composite index rose 2.09 to 1,556.19. And the Russell 2000 index rose 5.18 to 494.95.
