Shares on Wall Street finished solidly higher on Wednesday after European debt fears eased.
Before the Fed made its midafternoon announcement, major market gauges were all solidly higher.
Stock markets closed solidly higher on Tuesday, a day after Wall Street posted its biggest losses since early March and financial stocks plunged more than 10percentt.
Wall Street waited until late in the session yesterday before sending stocks solidly higher after wavering over fears of more terrorist attacks.
Prices of existing single-family homes were solidly higher last month in all of the city's suburbs in New York State, compared with June 2002, according to the New York State Association of Realtors.
Even as stocks on Wall Street moved solidly higher on Tuesday, shares of Facebook went against the tide, continuing to fall sharply below their initial offering price in what could be a sign that the bottom is yet to come.
The stock market moved solidly higher on Thursday, with the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index scoring its best day in seven weeks, as bullish reports on consumer confidence and private sector jobs encouraged investors.
After a lackluster start, the Nasdaq composite index pushed solidly higher and finished just shy of its best level, with an advance of 82.89 points, or 2.2percentto to 3,839.26.
Gains in consumer confidence and durable goods orders brought buyers back to Wall Street yesterday, sending stocks solidly higher and ending a four-session losing streak for blue chips.
Stocks had been trading solidly higher for most of the day but lost momentum over a sudden shock of a different kind: shortly after the East Coast earthquake around 2 p.m., the Dow lost about 50 points, but traders shook off their jitters quickly.
Investors poured money back into stocks in late afternoon trading, driving stocks solidly higher for the first time in days.
