The stock market ended mostly higher Wednesday after the Federal Reserve vowed to keep interest rates low for an "extended period."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30.23 points, or 0.3%, to 9802.14, as investors took comfort from comments from the Fed indicating the economy is on the mend, but the recovery is moderate enough to not prompt a rate increase. (Story, 1B.) The Dow is up 11.7% this year.

Meanwhile, helped mainly by stocks in the office electronics, managed health care and home-building industries, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.09 points to 1046.50. The S&P 500 is up 15.9% this year.

Tech stocks, however, fell into the red for the day, as the Nasdaq composite index lost 1.80 points to 2055.52. The Nasdaq, though, is up 30.3% this year.

Analysts were a bit puzzled by the market's sudden sell-off in the final hour of the day. The Dow, for instance, had been up as much as 156 points until succumbing to selling pressure.

Investors are still sitting on paper profits of $2 trillion this year, based on the Wilshire 5000.

Most of the selling centered around financial stocks, leading some to wonder if the House of Representatives' approval of new restrictions on credit cards were at fault.

Todd Clark, trader at Nollenberger Capital, says stocks continue to be pressured by rising commodity prices and a weakening dollar. The price of a barrel of oil rose 80 cents to $80.40, and the price of an ounce of gold rose $2.40 to $1,086.70. Meanwhile, the dollar fell 0.9% based on the Dollar index which tracks the greenback against six major currencies, Bloomberg News says.

Even so, the fact that the Fed is going to be keeping rates low will continue to provide a lift for stocks, says strategist Peter Cardillo of Avalon Partners. "This will propel stocks higher as investors' risk appetite continues," he says.

Highlights: Berkshire Hathaway A shares rose $1,080 to $101,530 the day after the company announced plans to buy railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26.3 billion. Credit-rating agency S&P said it might cut Berkshire's AAA rating due to the acquisition.

*Con-way, a transportation company, fell $3.29, or 10%, to $29.33. The company late Tuesday reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit of $13.5 million. The company also warned weak demand would pressure its future profit. (c) Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

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