Wall Street gains as Fed offsets debt woes

By IBTimes Staff Reporter | April 28 2010 4:24 PM

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve pointed to signs of strength in the economy in comments that gave some relief to investors worried about debt defaults in Europe.

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The session's climb pushed the Dow industrials back above the psychologically important 11,000 mark in a recovery from a swoon just before midday when Standard & Poor's cut Spain's credit rating. On Tuesday, the market sold off following a Standard & Poor's downgrade of Greece's debt rating to junk and a two-notch cut in Portugal's credit rating as well.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 53.28 points, or 0.48 percent, to end unofficially at 11,045.27. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> added 7.65 points, or 0.65 percent, to finish unofficially at 1,191.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> edged up just 0.26 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to close unofficially at 2,471.73.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jan Paschal)