U.S. stocks extend gains amid Fed minutes

NEW YORK, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks continued to rise Wednesday as investors digested the minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 98.67 points, or 0.40 percent, to 24,922.68. The S&P 500 added 17.25 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,713.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 58.63 points, or 0.84 percent, to 7,065.53.

According to the minutes, Fed policy makers continued to expect that, with gradual adjustments in the stance of monetary policy, economic activity would expand at a moderate pace and labor market conditions would remain strong.

Fed members agreed that the timing and size of future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate would depend on their assessments of realized and expected economic conditions relative to the Fed's objectives of maximum employment and 2 percent inflation.

In December, the U.S. central bank raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points for the third time in 2017 and suggested three more rate hikes in 2018.

On the economic front, U.S. economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in December, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said Wednesday.

The December Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) registered 59.7 percent, an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the November reading of 58.2 percent and beating market consensus.

Meanwhile, U.S. construction spending during November 2017 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,257 billion U.S. dollars, 0.8 percent above the revised October estimate. Enditem