Wall Street closes higher after Fed rate hike

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street closed higher Wednesday as the Federal Reserve increased interest rates and pointed to strengthening economic conditions.

The Dow added 112 points to finish at 20,950 and the S&P rose 19 points to end the day at 2,385.

The Nasdaq increased 43 points to close at 5,900.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the economy is getting closer to the central bank's objectives. ”The simple message is that the economy is doing well,” she said.

Markets had already priced in the Fed's rate hike in recent weeks in anticipation of the rate hike.

After the interest rate increase was announced, the dollar lost some recent gains against major currencies, while oil prices rose around 2 percent to rally the stock market.

At the final bell, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was trading at $48.83 -- up 2.4 percent. International benchmark Brent crude was at $51.87 -- a 1.9 percent gain.