U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Wednesday after fears eased that the Federal Reserve would strongly signal it would raise interest rates in June, though a slump in Apple shares weighed on the Nasdaq index.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 51.23 points, or 0.28 percent, to 18,041.55, the S&P 500 gained 3.45 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,095.15 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 25.14 points, or 0.51 percent, to 4,863.14.
Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures pared losses after the closing bell as Facebook's shares jumped more than 8 percent after the company beat estimates on both earnings and revenue.
During the regular session, Exxon Mobil shares hit their highest level since May 2015 after the energy company raised its quarterly dividend to 75 cents from 73 cents. The dividend hike came a day after Standard & Poor's cut Exxon's credit rating, in part for being too generous with shareholders. Its shares closed up 0.9 percent at $88.46.
Asian stocks rose on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve offered few clues on its monetary policy outlook, while the dollar edged higher as investors awaited the Bank of Japan's policy decision.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.3 percent. Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.1 percent, while S&P 500 e-mini futures edged up 0.1 percent, after Wall Street posted solid gains overnight.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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