Dow Jones Industrial Average Today Gains as Fed Holds Rates in Place

By Garrett Baldwin, Executive Producer, Money Morning • April 27, 2016

Dow Jones Industrial Average News - 4/27/16: On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates at current levels as concerns about the broader economy weighed on sentiment. Concerns about a hawkish Fed faded after Janet Yellen said that the central bank will move "cautiously" in 2016.

Now, let's discuss what you need to know about the markets on April 27, 2016.

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First up, check out the results for the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Dow Jones: 18,041.55; +51.23; 0.28%                                 

S&P 500: 2,095.15; +3.45; 0.16%    

Nasdaq: 4,863.14; -25.14; -0.51%

Now, here's the top stock market news today...

DJIA Today: Fed Remains Dovish with U.S. Interest Rate Policy

The Federal Reserve concluded its two-day policy meeting, and the central bank took no action on interest rates this month. The FOMC committee isn't expected to take any action until at least June, although the probability of a hike doesn't rise above 50% until November.

Investors are looking for clues on what the bank might do at the next FOMC meeting. The Fed said that "economic activity appears to have slowed," pointing to a downturn in manufacturing across the country. Although the nation has seen job market gains, the central bank has grown concerned about the pace of household spending.

Here's more on what we learned from the FOMC meeting today.

Oh the wonders of socialism. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro ordered citizens to reduce their work week to just two days as the nation attempts to deal with significant shortages of energy and electricity. Now the nation can add blackouts to its list of crises, which include a recession, triple-digit inflation, food and medical shortages, and the Zika virus. Inflation is expected to hit 500% this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The Nasdaq slipped 25 points as tech stocks stumbled. Shares of Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN), and Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) were all decliners today. Meanwhile, Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) rallied 6.2% after the bell on Wednesday.

FB stock is a big hit after the company topped Wall Street earnings expectations. Check back to Money Morning for more insight into Facebook's earnings report.

Oil prices rallied to a five-month high after the Fed decided to hold interest rates in place. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute announced a 1.1 million drawdown in domestic crude supplies, while OPEC leaders are increasingly optimistic that producing nations can reach an agreement in May to enforce a production freeze. WTI crude prices added 2.7%, while Brent crude added 3.1%.

Investors can anticipate that crude prices will rise and stabilize thanks to these five factors.

Now, let's look at the day's biggest stock movers and the stock of the day.

Top Stock Market News Today

• Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) rallied to their highest level since May 2015 after the firm hiked its dividend. The boost came just one day after the firm had its AAA-credit rating cut by Standard & Poor's. The company has now increased its annual dividend to shareholders for 34 consecutive years.
• Linked Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) will report Q1 2016 earnings after the closing bell on Thursday, April 28, and shareholders are hoping for better news this time around. Here's a breakdown of what to expect from earnings and the answer to your most important question about LNKD stock: Should I Buy LinkedIn Stock After Q1 2016 Earnings?
• Today, all the talk was all about Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL). The technology giant's stock fell by 6.5% after it reported its first decline in revenue since fall 2003. The company sold just 51 million iPhone units during the quarter. That's well below the 61.2 million units it sold in the same period last year.
• Shares of Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) cratered 16% despite news that the technology platform boosted its user base to 310 million users (adding 5 million in the quarter). The company continues to struggle as advertising revenue stagnates and its quarterly earnings report underwhelmed investors. Here's more coverage of TWTR stock's decline.
• Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD) stock fell by more than 11% after the firm fell well short of Wall Street quarterly earnings expectations. The firm also issued a weaker than expected quarterly outlook.
• DreamWorks Animation Skg Inc. (Nasdaq: DWA) rallied more than 17.5% after news broke that Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA) could purchase the film for more than $3 billion.
• Finally, here's your stock of the day. You might not know it, but the U.S. markets are experiencing a steep earnings recession these days. As Money Morning Director of Technology & Venture Capital Michael A. Robinson explains, "We might be seeing the third straight quarter in which S&P 500 stock profits are lower on a year-over-year basis." But this recession is creating a remarkable number of buying opportunities for savvy investors looking to the long term. Robinson outlines two stocks to own here.

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