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Stocks higher after Fed
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December 11, 2001: 2:49 p.m. ET
Wall Street builds strength following 11th rate cut this year.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - U.S. stocks pushed higher Tuesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve cut short-term interest rates by an expected quarter-percentage point in a year-end bid to energize a sluggish economy and spur consumer spending.
Stocks, which were moderately higher before the announcement, rose after a brief retreat following the 2:15 p.m. ET announcement.
In a statement accompanying the decision, the Fed kept its "bias" tilted toward weakness, implying more possible rate cuts.
At 2:30 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average rose 89.74 to 10,010.54; it was up 32.45 points before the decision. The Nasdaq composite was up 38.91 at 2,031.03; it was up about 26.42 points earlier. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 10.58 points to 1,150.51; it was up almost 5 points prior to the news.
Prices on the 10- and 30-year Treasurys rose following the news.
This is the 11th time this year - a record number in any single year -- that the central bank has lowered borrowing costs, and the fourth time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. The decision pushes the federal funds rate, an overnight lending rate, to 1.75 percent from 2.0 percent, thereby hitting a 40-year low. 
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