Stock futures gain following Fed announcement
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street futures are rising a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to keep interest rates low until late 2014 to nurture the nation's stubbornly slow economic recovery.
Dow Jones industrial futures are up 52 points to 12,740. The broader S&P 500 futures are up 5 points to 1,325. And the Nasdaq composite is up 3 points to 2,463.
The Fed cut rates to near zero in December 2008 during the financial crisis, and has held them there ever since.
Caterpillar's stellar fourth-quarters earnings report may also buoy investors. Its stock rose 3 percent in premarket trading.
European markets rose as Italy saw lower borrowing rates at a bond auction and talks resumed in Greece on a debt relief deal. Asian markets were mixed, with Japan's Nikkei falling.
