ROB CURRAN

THE United States stock market surged on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve’s near-nightmare policy decision stopped just short of a worst-case scenario.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by more than 930 points and major indexes jumped by the most in 2 years, after the Fed hiked interest rates by 50 basis points – the first time since 2000 for a hike of that scale – but said an even bigger 75-basis-point hike was not on the table.