US: Stocks boosted by better Fed outlook; Apple dives

[NEW YORK] Plunging Apple shares weighed on US stocks on Wednesday, but the Dow and S&P 500 rose after the Federal Reserve offered a somewhat more optimistic view of the global economy.

Apple, the biggest company by market capitalization, tumbled 6.4 per cent after announcing its first ever drop in iPhone sales and its first decline in quarterly revenues since 2003.

But the market rallied after the Fed suggested it was less concerned about the global economic and financial landscape than during the first quarter of the year.

Higher oil prices meanwhile lifted petroleum-linked shares.

At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 per cent to 18,044.08.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to 2,095.41, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.5 per cent to 4,863.14.

AFP