Most stocks, however, rose, aided by a 1.8% rise in May durable goods orders, a favorable earnings report from Oracle Corp. (ORCL), and a Federal Reserve statement highlighting fresh signs of economic stability.

On Wednesday, the 30-stock Dow Jones industrial average finished lower by 23.05 points, or 0.28%, at 8,299.86. The broad Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 5.84 points, or 0.65%, to 900.947. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was 27.42 points, or 1.55%, higher at 1,792.34.

Treasury yields rose, and prices fell, after the Fed statement. The dollar index was higher. Gold futures rose. Crude oil futures fell despite the Energy Dept.'s weekly inventory report showing U.S. crude oil stocks fell 3.8 million barrels.

At the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting Wednesday, the Fed maintained the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25% percent and said it "continues to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period." The statement ran counter to the expectations of some market players that the Fed would indicate that it would begin to tighten monetary policy in the near future.

In its

post-meeting statement, the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee said that recent data suggests that the pace of economic contraction is slowing. Conditions in financial markets have generally improved in recent months, it noted, while household spending has shown further signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. The Fed noted that businesses are cutting back on fixed investment and staffing but appear to be making progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales."

Although economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee continues to anticipate that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth in a context of price stability," the FOMC said.

On the inflation front, policymakers noted that the prices of energy and other commodities have recently risen.