June 20, 2012- Markets Digest US Fed Annoucement in Volatile Session

Stocks saw considerable volatility over the course of the trading day on Wednesday as traders digested news of the Federal Reserve's decision to extend "Operation Twist." Nonetheless, the markets largely held on to their recent gains. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually ending the session mixed. While the Nasdaq crept up 0.69 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 2,930.45, the Dow edged down 12.94 points or 0.1 percent to 12,824.39 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.29 points or 0.2 percent to 1,355.69. The choppy trading came after the Federal Reserve announced its decision to continue its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities through the end of the year. The program, known as "Operation Twist," involves replacing short-term securities in the Fed's bond portfolio with longer-term securities in an effort to push already low long-term interest rates even lower.