Wall Street gives up early gains

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 203.82 points to close on Thursday at 10,005.96

A late slump left stocks mixed on Wall Street as investors' optimism waned after an initial fillip as the Federal Reserve gave an encouraging assessment of the economy.

A House vote to speed up the effective date of limits on credit card companies took bank stocks sharply lower in the last hour of trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30.23, or 0.3%, to close on Wednesday at 9,802.14. It had jumped 156 after the Fed announcement.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.98, or 0.1%, to 1,046.50, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 1.80, or 0.1%, to 2,055.52.

The Fed, as expected, left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of essentially zero and said the economy is slowly rebounding.

Its announcement followed reports on service industries and employment that eased two of the biggest worries about the economy.

The Fed's statement accompanying its rate decision noted that housing activity has picked up in recent months. It also said consumer spending, while still constrained by unemployment and other problems, appears to be growing.

Policymakers said they would keep interest rates low for an "extended period" and said inflation is likely to remain tame. That eased some worries that rising prices would force the Fed to boost interest rates and risk cutting off a nascent recovery in the economy.

But, as often happens after Fed meetings, stocks were unable to hold their gains. The Fed statement, while more upbeat than in recent months, did note that there are ongoing job losses.

And investors were well aware that the Labour Department's October jobs report is just two days away, scheduled for release on Friday morning.