Stocks Rise After Fed Minutes

The Dow's up 100 points.

The S&P 500 is up 11 points.

The Nasdaq is up 44 points.

Overall, the message of the minutes reaffirm the Fed's commitment to keeping monetary policy easy and accomodative as long as the labor market remains weak.

Among other things, the members discussed their forecasts for rate hikes, which initially suggested an increased degree of hawkishness. From the minutes:

"...several participants noted that the increase in the median projection overstated the shift in the projections. In addition, a number of participants observed that an upward shift was arguably warranted by the improvement in participants' outlooks for the labor market since December and therefore need not be viewed as signifying a less accommodative reaction function. Most participants favored providing an explicit indication in the statement that the new forward guidance, taken as a whole, did not imply a change in the Committee's policy intentions, on the grounds that such an indication could help forestall misinterpretation of the new forward guidance."

Read more about the minutes here.