U.S. Stocks Topple Old Records After Release Of Fed Minutes

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks climbed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 hitting to new all-time highs, after the release of commentary from the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting showed there was no dissent to the central bank's surprise decision to cut interest rates by half a percentage point.

Fed officials agreed the cut was "the most prudent course of action," but future actions would depend on how the economy fared in coming weeks, according to a summary of the Sept. 18 meeting.

The central bank declined to provide the traditional balance of risk statement, language that indicates whether the Fed believes it must focus its policy attention on higher inflation or slower growth.

Such a statement in mid-September "could give the mistaken impression that the FOMC was more certain about the economic outlook that was in fact the case," the summary said.

After hitting a new high of 14,132.8, the Dow Jones Industrial Average more recently climbed 86.3 points 14,130.2 with 24 of its 30 components ahead.

The S&P 500 was up 8.35 points to 1,560.93, after hitting an all-time intraday high of 1,561.96.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 13.74 points to 2,801.11.

Nearly 817 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with advancing stocks outpacing declining issues nearly 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, 1.4 billion shares exchanged hands, and advancing issues topped declining stocks 4 to 3.

Crude advance

Crude oil futures gained, with the contract for November delivery up $1.24 to $80.26, while gold futures also climbed, the contract for December delivery ahead $3.70 to $742.40.

The dollar rose after the release of the FOMC minutes, with the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rising to 78.630, compared with 78.540 before the minutes. The euro was trading at $1.4072, down from $1.4090 before the minutes. The dollar was buying 117.10 compared with 116.94 yen earlier Tuesday. .

Treasurys fell back slightly in afternoon trade, sending yields higher, after the release of the Fed's commentary. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 2/32 at 100 27/32, yielding 4.642%. .

In play

Internet search giant Google Inc. continued to gain after setting an all-time high on Monday. Google stock was up 0.2% at $610.85 after Lehman Brothers raises its price target on Google to $714 a share. .

Telecommunications stocks mostly retreated, with Sprint Nextel Corp. shares down 1.1% after word late Monday that the telecommunications giant's CEO had stepped down. .

Under fire amid subscriber defections and disappointing share-price performance, the Sprint executive's exit wasn't entirely unexpected.

And in the unofficial start of third-quarter earnings season, Dow component Alcoa is expected to report a profit of 65 cents a share for the third quarter, according to the average estimate of analysts who follow the aluminum producer. This would be up about 5% from the year-ago period.

Already out with results, Mosaic Co. reported first-quarter profits of 69 cents a share, topping forecasts calling for 58 cents a share. Its stock rose 7.9%.

Shares of Yum Brands Inc. were up 4.9% after the fast-food restaurant giant reported a better than expected third-quarter profit after Monday's close.

American Electric Power Company Inc. advanced 0.3% after the Columbus, Ohio-based utility agreed to pay more than $1 billion to settle a federal lawsuit tied to emissions from its coal-fired power plants. .

On the broker front, Deutsche Bank downgraded Dow component Coca-Cola Co. to hold from buy, citing valuation. Shares of Coca-Cola slid 0.1%.

JetBlue Airways Corp. also drew a downgrade, with Goldman Sachs cutting its rating to neutral from buy. Shares of JetBlue were off 0.8%.

Gains overseas

In Asia, a handful of tock indexes in the region ended at record highs. .

In Europe, shares tallied broad-based gains, paced by London. See .

In trade thinned by the Columbus Day holiday, U.S. stocks on Monday ended mixed to mostly lower.

"This market could be headed for a short-term correction of 3% to 5% as earnings begin to flow," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. .

By Kate Gibson