Awwal 24, 1432 / April 28, 2011, SPA -- Stocks rose Wednesday after the statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke held his first news conference. As expected, the central bank said it would keep interest rates low and end its $600 billion bond-buyback program in June, while Bernanke reassured investors that the U.S. economic recovery is on track. Wednesday's gains pushed the three major indexes to new multi-year highs. The Dow industrials climbed to their highest level since May 2008, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 rose to its highest point since June 2008. The technology-heavy Nasdaq pushed to its highest level since December 2000. In U.S. economic news, orders for durable goods increased 2.5 percent in March after an upwardly revised gain of 0.7 percent the previous month. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar fell versus the euro but rose 1.3 percent versus the yen. Oil for June delivery rose 38 cents to $112.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $5.00 to $1,508.50 an ounce. --More
