Dow Bounces Back, Soars 430

Another crazy day for the markets, but this time they ended way up in positive territory. The Dow rose 430 points to close at 11,239, up nearly 4%. The Nasdaq rose 125 to 2,483 (5.29%) and the S&P 500 jumped 53 to 1,173 (4.74%). The Dow had been up triple digits most of the day until the Fed came out with a statement after 2pm saying that because the economy is weaker than thought, it would leave interest rates unchanged for another two years.

The Dow immediately tanked, dipping to nearly 200 points in the red, before recovering about an hour later and zooming upward to the finish. Three members of the Fed's Open Market Committee dissented from the decision to leave rates unchanged through mid-2013, notes MarketWatch. "Today’s action is at best a bunt, with the opportunity for the Fed to swing at another pitch," one observer says. (More Federal Reserve stories.)