Why the Dow Is Up Today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI  ) was down this morning but jumped after the Fed announced that there will be no interest rate hikes until late 2014 at the earliest. At 1:30 p.m. EST, the Dow was up 46 points to 12,721.

After the Fed announced the decision, long-term treasury bonds went up in price, dropping their yield; the 10-year Treasuries yield is now 1.94%. Also up were mortgage REITs, led by Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY  ) , which are dependent on low interest rates to finance their mortgage buying.

Leading the Dow up is American Express (NYSE: AXP  ) . The stock is up 1.9% to $50.19, bucking the financial sector's trend today. Last week, investors were concerned that falling credit quality could hamper its results, but investors today seemed to have changed their mind.

Runner-up is General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) , which is up 1.3% to $19.09. The company reported earnings on Friday. Analysts expected earnings per share of $0.38 and revenue of $40 billion. The company beat expectations on the earnings side, with earnings per share of $0.39, but fell short on revenue, reporting just $38 billion.

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