(In fourth paragraph, corrects month to June, not May)
* Dow up 0.24%, S&P up 0.24%, Nasdaq up 0.21%
By Noel Randewich
June 19 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Wednesday after the
Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, as expected, and
signaled potential cuts later this year.
Saying it "will act as appropriate to sustain" economic
expansion, the central bank signaled rate cuts of as much as
half a percentage point over the remainder of 2019. "We think the Fed delivered. It did no harm. It walked right
up to a cut without doing it today. It'll likely be coming in
July absent some big trade news or other news," said John
Augustine, chief investment officer at Huntington Bank in
Columbus, Ohio.
Buoyed by growing confidence the Fed will cut rates, and by
hopes of an end to the U.S.-China trade war, U.S. stocks have
climbed in recent weeks. The S&P 500 .SPX has gained about 6%
in June and is about 1% away from its record high close set in
April.
The financial sector .SPSY was up 0.1%, with bank stocks
.SPXBK dipping 0.1%.
All three major indexes rose following the announcement.
At 2:17 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 0.24% at 26,530.35 points, while the S&P 500 was up 0.24% at
2,924.75.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 0.21% at 7,970.94.
The healthcare sector .SPXHC rose 0.9%, helped by gains in
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N , Pfizer Inc PFE.N and Allergan
Plc AGN.N .
Allergan jumped 5.8% after the drugmaker said its
constipation drug, jointly developed with Ironwood
Pharmaceuticals Inc IRWD.O , improved symptoms in patients
suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation.
Adobe Inc ADBE.O surged 4.5% after the Photoshop software
provider beat analysts' estimates for quarterly profit and
revenue.