NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The Nasdaq composite slumped and the broader market was mixed Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve lifted a key short-term interest rate, as expected, but did not specify that its rate-hiking campaign is over, as some had hoped.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 2.88 to 11,642.65, Charts) gained a few points to stand about 80 points from its all-time high of 11,722.98, where it closed on Jan. 14, 2000.

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The broader Standard & Poor's 500 (Charts) index lost around 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq composite (down 17.51 to 2,320.74, Charts) lost nearly 0.8 percent.

The Dow managed to improve its standing after the Fed announcement, while the S&P and the Nasdaq both ended not far from where they stood before the announcement.

All three indexes had slipped in the minutes immediately following the news.

What the Fed has done is "created room for themselves to either pause or not, depending on the data between now and the end of June," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital. "They've set it up so that the markets are prepared either way."

He said that the markets would have liked the Fed to continue to "spoon feed" policy, as it has over the last two years. However, the central bank can't do that at this point in the interest-rate cycle, he said.

Thursday brings a bevy of economic reports, including April retail sales, March business inventories and the weekly jobless claims, all before the start of trading. Earnings are expected from JC Penney (Research) and EchoStar (Research).

Dow stock American International Group (Research) could be active Thursday. After the close Wednesday, AIG reported weaker quarterly earnings. Earnings excluding items rose from a year ago, but nonetheless missed analysts' forecasts. Shares lost 3.5 percent in extended-hours trading.

As of 6 p.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a modestly lower open for stocks Thursday.

The central bank, meeting Wednesday, opted to boost the Fed funds rate, a key overnight bank lending rate, by a quarter-percentage point to 5 percent, as expected. It was the 16th straight increase since the Fed began raising rates in June 2004.

In its closely-watched statement, the bank seemed to keep the door open for future rate hikes, but stressed more directly that future policy depends on how the data look between now and the June 28-29 meeting.

The Fed statement acknowledged the strength of the economy, but again said that growth would likely moderate moving forward, due to the slowdown in the housing market, among other factors. This aspect of the statement was similar to comments Fed chairman Ben Bernanke made to Congress recently.

The statement went on to say that "the Committee judges that some further policy firming may yet be needed to address inflation risks but emphasizes that the extent and timing of any such firming will depend importantly on the evolution of the economic outlook as implied by incoming information."

This seemed to reiterate what Fed officials have been saying recently, namely, that they are data dependent in terms of future policy. It also seemed to send the message to the markets that the Fed is not necessarily going to pause after this meeting, as many had hoped.

"The statement indicates pretty much what Bernanke has been saying lately, that there's a chance that may need to boost again, but not necessarily immediately," said Jonathan Golub, U.S. equity strategist, JP Morgan Asset Management.

The statement implies that the Fed is not committed to 5.25 percent at June, Golub said, and that the bankers are going to see what the data show and how the economy responds to the hikes that are already in place.

Late Tuesday, Cisco Systems (down $0.93 to $20.75, Research) reported revenue and quarterly earnings per share that rose from a year earlier and beat estimates. But the company issued a fourth-quarter revenue forecast that was short of expectations. Shares fell 4.3 percent.

Cisco dragged on other computer networking stocks.

Intel (down $0.32 to $19.58, Research) and Advanced Micro Devices (down $1.33 to $32.83, Research) were among the chip stocks sliding. The Philadelphia Semiconductor (down 12.95 to 507.05, Charts) index losing 2.5 percent.

A number of telecom stocks slipped, led by Motorola (down $0.56 to $22.30, Research) and Nokia (down $0.71 to $22.39, Research).

Teva Pharmaceuticals (down $5.35 to $37.56, Research) lost 12.5 percent in active Nasdaq trade. The generic drugmaker reported quarterly earnings that fell from a year earlier and missed estimates.

On the upside, Dow component Walt Disney (up $0.53 to $30.11, Research) reported quarterly earnings late Tuesday that rose from a year earlier and beat estimates. Shares gained 1.8 percent Wednesday.

Fellow Dow stock General Motors (Research) added another 4 percent to the nearly 10 percent it added Tuesday. The stock has been on a tear since GM announced Monday night that it has revised its first-quarter results to show a profit.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners six to five on volume of 1.61 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by three to two on volume of 2.05 billion shares.

Treasury prices were little changed, after see-sawing a bit after the meeting. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note stood at 5.13 percent.

Crude oil for June delivery rose $1.44 to settle at $72.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the weekly inventory report showed a surprising jump in crude and gasoline inventories.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $3.70 to settle at $705.20 an ounce, a fresh 25-year high.

Gold rallied more than $21 Tuesday on a mix of worries about Iran's nuclear capabilities, the weakening dollar and inflation. A weaker dollar makes dollar-traded commodities such as gold less costly for buyers.

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