U.S. stocks close lower after Fed statement

NEW YORK, May 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors digested a statement after the conclusion of Federal Reserve's two-day meeting in the afternoon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 174.07 points, or 0.72 percent, to 23,924.98. The S&P 500 decreased 19.13 points, or 0.72 percent, to 2,635.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 29.81 points, or 0.42 percent, to 7,100.90.

The central bank kept the interest rates unchanged, in line with market expectation, while expressing confidence that inflation is near its 2-percent target.

"The (Federal Open Market) Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 1.5 to 1.75 percent," said the Fed in a statement after concluding a two-day policy meeting.

The statement showed the central bank's confidence over inflation, acknowledging that core inflation rate have moved close to the central bank's 2-percent target.

"Inflation on a 12-month basis is expected to run near the Committee's symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term," said the Fed.

On the earnings front, Apple reported first-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell that topped Wall Street's expectations.

The company posted quarterly revenue of 61.1 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 16 percent from the year-ago quarter, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of 2.73 dollars, up 30 percent. International sales accounted for 65 percent of the quarter's revenue.

Shares of the Dow component rose 4.42 percent to close at 176.57 dollars apiece.

First quarter earnings are expected to increase 24.6 percent year-on-year, according to Thomson Reuters' latest estimates released on Monday.

Of the 274 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 79.2 percent have reported earnings above analyst expectations. This is above the long-term average of 64 percent and above the prior four quarter average of 72 percent, the estimates said.

The first-quarter blended revenue growth estimate is 8.1 percent. Some 73.6 percent of companies have reported revenue above analyst expectations, according to the estimates. Enditem