The market extended its gains during the midday with the Dow soaring 133 points to 24,638. Nasdaq climbed 25 points to 6,887.
At the Federal Reserve's final policy meeting of the year, the agency increased interest rates by an expected quarter of a percentage point. The Fed affirmed its intention to raise rates three times in 2018 and in 2019 even as the nation's economic activity has accelerated. However, inflation is expected to be below the targeted 2% in 2018.
Republicans have finalized an agreement to overhaul the tax code that will add between $1.5 trillion to $20 billion to the nation's debt over the next decade. The corporate tax rate will be slashed from the current 35% to 21%, which is above the 20% that was heavily promoted by President Donald Trump. The top tax bracket for wealthy individuals will drop from 39.6% to 37% while a $10,000 cap will be established for state and local tax deductions.
Toyota Motor extended its partnership with Panasonic by jointly developing prismatic cells to power electric cars. Panasonic currently supplies the Japanese automaker with traditional lithium-ion batteries. Panasonic is also working with Tesla to develop batteries using cylindrical cells.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 4 to 3 on the NYSE and by 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 rose 5 points to 2,669. Bitcoin plunged $917 to $16,159.
