The Associated Press

The U.S. stock market surged on Wednesday, erasing a steep loss from the day before. Investors were reacting to minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting, which showed that the central bank wants to keep interest rates extremely low for the time being.

On Wednesday:

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 274.83 points, or 1.6 percent, to 16,994.22.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 33.79 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,968.89.

The Nasdaq composite rose 83.39 points, or 1.9 percent, to 4,468.59.

For the week:

The Dow Jones industrial average is down 15.47 points, or 0.09 percent.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 0.99 points, or 0.05 percent.

The Nasdaq composite is down 7.03 points, or 0.2 percent.

For the year:

The Dow is up 417.56 points, or 2.5 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 120.53 points, or 6.5 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 292 points, or 7 percent.

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