Stocks Rally As Fed Provides Clarity On Rate Hike -- U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks rallied Wednesday as the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting provided some clarity on the prospects of a December rate hike.

"Most" Fed participants anticipated that conditions for tightening could well be met by the December 15-16 meeting, setting the table for a modest rate hike.

The S&P 500 jumped 33.14 points, or 1.6%, higher at 2,083.58, its biggest gain in about a month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 247.66 points, or 1.4%, to 17,737.16. The Nasdaq Composite added 89.19 points, or 1.8%, at 5,075.20.

S&P's financial-stocks index was up 1.3% on the prospect of rate hikes. JP Morgan Chase (JPM) rose 1.6%.

The Dow Jones Railroads Index jumped 3.6 percent. Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Canadian Pacific (CP) posted standout gains in the railroad sector.

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP.TO) has made a bid for Norfolk Southern Corp valued at $28.35 billion.

Apple (AAPL) rose more than 2% on a positive note from Goldman Sachs.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 0.3 percent.

The major European markets also ended the day mixed as French police killed the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index edged down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index dropped by 0.6 percent.