周三的股市迎来了纳斯达克100指数今年以来最好的收成，这与苹果股市收益几乎翻了一番有很大关系。美联储主席本•伯南克（Ben S. Bernanke）称，美联储已经做好了刺激经济增长的积极准备。
苹果股价激增了8.9%，成为自2008年11月以来股市收益最多的公司。波音公司股价增长了5.3%，比事先预计的收益还要好，这是因为该公司推出更多商务机后，制造水平便再破纪录。卡特彼勒（Caterpillar）公司是世界上最大的建筑设备生产企业，该公司因收入未达到预期目标，股价下滑了4.6%。
纳斯达克综合指数涨68.03点，涨幅为2.30%，报收3029.63点。标准普尔500指数涨18.72点，涨幅为1.36%，报收1390.69点。道琼斯工业平均指数涨89.16点，涨幅为0.69%，报收13090.72点。
位于波斯顿的MFS投资管理公司的首席投资战略官James Swanson在接受电话采访时说，“这个消息非常振奋人心”。“这个收获季节说明了一个问题，即使在经济衰退的大环境中，公司仍然可以有很好的盈利能力。只要这些公司能保持盈利，我敢说市场不久就会迎来曙光”。
2012年的经济状况和公司财报比预计的要好很多，标准普尔500指数已经上升了11%。美国国内的经济增长很好地抵消了欧洲的拖累，美国公司的增长情况即将打破未来两年预计的最高水平。自4月10日以来，标准普尔500中80%的公司利润已经超过了原先预计的水平。
美国政策制定部门称不久便会颁发旨在减少贷款成本的新政策，经济可能会因此保持持续快速增长，这个好消息使股票走势纷纷上扬。中央银行的官员们反复强调，贷款成本可能会达到从未有过的新低，并至少持续至2014年底，他们同时调高了经济增长和就业率的预期。
“美联储这么做是在给经济提供保险”，位于威斯康星州梅诺莫尼福尔斯的富国优势基金公司（Wells Fargo Advantage Funds）高级证券投资经理Ann Miletti说道。“情况有改善的趋势，但还存在一些不稳定性。美联储称自己会担负起这个重任。公司盈利情况不错，市场喜欢这个样子。”
标准普尔500指数的10组股票都涨了，科技股处于领先位置，占到所有指数的20%。该组股票跳升3.2%，是自去年11月以来表现最好的股票。与经济联系最为密切的公司摩根士丹利循环指数涨幅达1.6%。代表小公司的罗素2000指数则上涨1.8%，报收812.12点。
苹果股价激增8.9%，每股达到610美元。苹果总裁蒂姆•库克却说，业务一旦扩展到中国，苹果公司的机会将比现在还要多很多。
波音股价上涨5.3%，达到77.08美元每股。上一季度，波音公司总共售出了137架喷气客机，其主要竞争对手空中客车售出了131架。
可口可乐公司的股价上涨了1.1%，报收74.93美元每股，这与该公司建议进行一分为二的股票分割，将股价维持在投资散户承担得起的水平有关。
卡特彼勒公司的股价下跌了4.6%，是道琼斯平均指数公司中下跌最多的。该公司还称今年在发展中国家的产品销量将比预期的要小。
Stocks advanced on Wednesday, giving the Nasdaq 100 index its biggest gain this year, as Apple’s earnings almost doubled and the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, said the Fed was prepared to do more to stimulate growth.
Apple surged 8.9 percent for the biggest gain since November 2008. Boeing added 5.3 percent as earnings beat estimates after the company delivered more commercial jets while pushing production to record levels. Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of construction equipment, slumped 4.6 percent as revenue missed projections.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 68.03 points, or 2.30 percent, to 3,029.63. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index added 18.72 points, or 1.36 percent, to 1,390.69. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.16 points, or 0.69 percent, to 13,090.72.
“It’s encouraging,” James Swanson, chief investment strategist at MFS Investment Management in Boston, said in a telephone interview. “The earnings season shows that companies can have good profitability in a low-growth environment. As long as these earnings hold up, I’d say that’s a bright sign for the market.”
The S.& P. 500 has risen 11 percent in 2012 on better-than-estimated economic and corporate data. Companies in the United States are beating earnings estimates at the highest rate in two years as growth at home helps counter a drag from Europe. Profits have topped forecasts at 80 percent of S.& P. 500 companies reporting since April 10.
Stocks also rallied as policy makers said they expected growth to gradually accelerate, while refraining from new actions to lower borrowing costs. Central bankers upgraded their forecasts for economic growth and unemployment while repeating their view that borrowing costs were likely to remain “exceptionally low” at least through late 2014.
“The Fed is providing an insurance policy to the economy,” said Ann Miletti, senior portfolio manager for Wells Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wis. “There’s a sense that things are improving, yet there’s some instability. The Fed is saying that it will be there to help keep things going. Earnings have been strong. The market likes it.”
All 10 groups in the S.& P. 500-stock index rallied, led by technology, which composes 20 percent of the index. The group jumped 3.2 percent, the biggest advance since November. The Morgan Stanley cyclical index of companies most tied to the economy increased 1.6 percent. The Russell 2000 index of small companies rallied 1.8 percent to 812.12.
Apple surged 8.9 percent to $610. The chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, said there would be “a lot more opportunity” in China as the company expanded operations there.
Boeing gained 5.3 percent to $77.08. It shipped 137 jetliners last quarter, compared with 131 deliveries by its main rival, Airbus.
Coca-Cola rose 1.1 percent to $74.93 after voting to recommend a 2-for-1 stock split to keep shares available to smaller investors.
Caterpillar slumped 4.6 percent, the most in the Dow, to $103.44. The company said sales in developing nations this year would be lower than anticipated.
