Stocks soar on fed interest rate announcement

Stocks bounced higher and bond yields dropped after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell downplayed the likelihood of an even larger rate increase than the one just announced Wednesday.

That allayed concerns that the central bank was on its way to a massive increase of three-quarters of a percentage point at its next meeting in June. The Dow closed up 2.8%, the S&P 500 jumped 2.9% and the NASDAQ finished up 3.2% after Powell's comments. The yield on the 2-year Treasury dropped to 2.65% from 2.78% late Tuesday, an unusually large move. The surge came shortly after the Fed announced a half-point increase in its benchmark rate as part of its effort to fight inflation.