NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks cheered the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement on March 20, lifting key indices to records after the central bank confirmed it still expects interest rate cuts in the coming months.

All three major indices finished at records, with the Nasdaq leading the group with a 1.3 per cent gain to 16,369.41.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1 per cent to 39,512.13, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.9 per cent to 5,224.62.

The Fed as expected opted to keep interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive meeting.

The central bank stayed the course in its forecast for three rate cuts in 2024, despite recent inflation data that topped estimates.

“Inflation is still too high,” Fed chairman Jerome Powell told a news conference.

But despite the recent uptick, Mr Powell said 2024’s inflation data had not “really changed the overall story, which is that of inflation moving down gradually on a sometimes bumpy road towards 2 per cent.”

Keeping the three rate cuts on the outlook allowed the market “to breathe a sigh of relief,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, adding that investors also welcomed Mr Powell’s characterisation of the economy as relatively strong.

All but two of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 advanced, while 28 out of the 30 Dow components ended the day in the green.

Among individual companies, General Mills won 1.2 per cent after reporting profits above analyst estimates.

Its chief executive officer pointed to the food company’s “industry-leading levels of cost saving” as a driver. AFP