New York (AFP)

The New York Stock Exchange, hesitant at the start of the session, ended in the green Wednesday allowing the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 to reach new records, after the Fed's decision to continue supporting the US economy "for so long as needed ".

The Dow Jones index rose 0.58%, rising for the first time above 33,000 points, to 33,015.37 points.

The Nasdaq, which had moved in the red during the session, recovered 0.40% to 13,525.20 points.

The S&P 500 hit a new record at 3,974.12 points (+ 0.29%).

At the end of a meeting of its Monetary Committee, the US Central Bank left its interest rates and asset purchases unchanged while posting more optimistic forecasts for growth in the United States.

The Fed has revised up its growth projection for the US economy for 2021 from 4.2% to 6.5%.

Inflation is also expected to accelerate to 2.4% this year, before falling back to around 2% in the following years.

The Fed members' median forecast does not project a rate hike until 2023 at this time.

President Jerome Powell insisted that the Fed was committed to supporting the economy "as long as necessary" and would be "patiently accommodating".

"Most importantly, Jerome Powell said the Fed was not going to act preventively to avoid inflation," said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert Financial Services.

"The Fed will therefore not raise its rates before having evidence on the table that there is inflation," he added at a press conference.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries, which have climbed in recent weeks on fears of an overheating economy boosted by vaccinations and stimulus checks, retreated a bit Wednesday to 1.64% after have reached 1.68% earlier in the session.

In terms of economic data, new housing starts fell more than expected in February (-10.3%), due in particular to an extreme cold spell last month.

Analysts noted that mortgage and refinancing requests have declined amid rising market interest rates.

Uber lost 4.23% after the chauffeur-driven car rental group granted its drivers in Britain salaried status.

Disney gained 0.51% after confirming that its theme parks would reopen on April 30 in California.

© 2021 AFP