Stocks rallied, lifting the S&P 500 to its highest finish since 2007, after the Federal Reserve opted for a third round of quantitative easing to boost economic growth. The Fed said it would purchase $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities every month until the labor market improves. The FOMC also said it would likely keep the federal funds rate near zero through at least the middle of 2015. Also, weekly jobless claims rose by 15,000 last week to 382,000, with part of the rise attributed to Tropical Storm Isaac. Apple rose 1.97% to set a record close of $682.98 a day after its high-profile rollout of the iPhone 5. Analysts at Citigroup downgraded Intel, AMD and Marvell Technology to neutral, citing signs of a weak PC market. Intel and AMD recovered from early losses, adding 0.70% and 0.77% respectively, while Marvell lost 0.54%. In the evening trade Western Digital was off 2.1% after the co. narrowed its earnings forecast, but said it would start paying a quarterly dividend, and that its board has approved an increase of $1.5 billion under its share buyback program.
