Dow Ends Day Up 163

Stocks closed solidly higher after the Federal Reserve held off on raising interest rates, the AP reports. The Fed said Wednesday the case for raising rates from their historic lows had strengthened, but said it wanted to see more improvements in the job market. High-dividend stocks such as utilities and phone companies rose more than the rest of the market as traders looked for alternative to bonds for income. Duke Energy jumped 2.2% and AT&T gained 1.5%. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 163 points, or 0.9%, to 18,293. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 23 points, or 1.1%, to 2,163. The Nasdaq composite climbed 53 points, or 1%, to 5,295. (More Dow Jones stories.)