Apple leads Wall Street bounceback

Stocks on Wall Street bounced back strongly from a negative start as investors digested a raft of earnings reports and a Federal Reserve policy statement.

The momentum picked up mid-afternoon when the Fed said it expected interest rates to stay at "exceptionally low levels" at least until late 2014, a year longer than earlier forecast.

Leading the rise was Apple, whose shares surge 6.2% to a record high after reporting first-quarter earnings and revenue that blew past estimates. The company also provided a fiscal second-quarter outlook that was above current forecasts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 83.10 points, or 0.7%, to 12,758.85 at the close (10am NZ time). It fell as much as 96 points shortly after the opening bell.

The S&P 500 index was up 0.9% to 1326.06, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.1% to 2818.31 as Apple's gains spilled over into other tech stocks.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European stocks ended mostly lower, as Ericsson and Novartis tumbled on sharp profit declines and Greece continued debt-swap negotiations with private creditors.

The Stoxx 600 index closed down 0.4% at 254.95, adding to Tuesday’s decline.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index declined 0.5% to 5723.00 and the French CAC 40 index lost 0.3% to 3312.48. In Germany, the DAX 30 index ended virtually flat at 6421.85.

Asian markets advanced with stocks in Tokyo ending near a three-month high as the yen weakened on Japan's first annual trade deficit in three decades. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.1% to 8883.69, a closing level it hasn't seen since October 31.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 1.1% to 4271.30, with banks leading the advance after a tame reading on consumer prices,. Korean investors returned after a four-day holiday weekend to push the Kospi 0.1% higher to 1952.23.

Markets in Hong Kong, Taipei and Shanghai, among others, remained closed for the New Year holidays.

Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures closed higher but below $US100 a barrel after the Fed decided to extend low interest rates for another year. Crude for March delivery climbed by 45USc to $US99.40 a barrel in New York, off the session high of $US100.40.

By contrast, gold futures shook off earlier losses, jumping by more than $US15 an ounce.

The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, soared to $US1675.90 on the Fed announcement. ,Before, gold was trading in negative territory at around $US1,657.50 an ounce.
crude oil futures turned its losses into a small gain, trading above $US99.25 a barrel. Gold futures slipped to about $US1660 an ounce.

Currencies: US dollar falls
The US dollar plummeted immediately after the Fed surprised market participants with a projection for near-zero interest rates to continue through to late 2014.

The euro was at $US1.3112 from $US1.3037 late on Tuesday. The dollar also tumbled against the yen after hitting a one-month high of ¥78.29 earlier in the session. It traded at ¥77.73 from ¥77.67.

The dollar fetched 0.9208 Swiss franc from 0.9276 Swiss franc. The UK pound bought $US1.5662 from $US1.5626.