1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end higher as investors digest Fed's Chair's comments

U.S. stocks closed modestly higher on Wednesday as investors were digesting Federal Reserve's statement and Fed Chair Janet Yellen's remarks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 31.26 points, or 0. 17 percent, to 17,935.74. The S&P 500 rose 4.15 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,100.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 9.33 points, or 0.18 percent, to 5,064.88.

The Fed signaled that it was on track to raise the benchmark interest rate this year despite the lower-than-expected economic outlook.

In its quarterly economic projections released on Wednesday, 15 out of 17 Fed board members and Fed bank presidents expected the appropriate timing for the first interest rate hike in almost nine years will be in 2015, and only two officials saw 2016 will be the appropriate timing.

"Market participant should not focus on the timing of the first rate hike. What's more important is the entire trajectory of interest rates," Yellen said during a press conference after the Fed's two-day meeting, adding there will be no mechanical rate hikes.

Yellen stressed that the importance of the initial increase should not be overstated, adding that the stance of monetary policy will likely remain highly accommodative for quite some time after the first interest rate hike.

Meanwhile, Greece remains in focus ahead of Thursday's Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg, which many believe is the last chance before Greece's EU bailout expires by the end of June.

One of Greece's leading economists, Professor Michalis Psalidopoulos, was appointed as the country's new representative to the International Monetary Fund, a Greek Finance Ministry press release said Wednesday.

Greek citizens poured into the Syntagma Square in Athens and other major cities across the country for symbolic anti-austerity pro-government demonstrations on Wednesday amid mounting fears of a possible impending default. Endite