US stocks rise sharply as Federal Reserve signals no rush to raise interest rates

The U.S. stock market is rising sharply after the Federal Reserve signaled that it's not in a hurry to raise interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 200 points, or 1.2 percent, to 16,923 as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday.

The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 24 points, or 1.3 percent, to 1,959. The Nasdaq rose 59 points, or 1.4 percent, to 4,444.

Indexes had meandered between gains and losses earlier in the day, then turned higher after the Fed released minutes from its latest policy meeting at 2:00 p.m. Fed officials agreed that they would begin raising rates only when measures of the economy's health signaled the time was right.

The Dow had plunged 272 points Tuesday as investors worried about a slowdown in global growth.