U.S. stocks held on to modest gains Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%, as expected, in an unanimous decision. In its statement, the Fed indicated that there will be only three rate hikes this year. However, it said it will likely increase rates three times in 2019 rather than the projected two as the economy is expected to grow even faster in the next two years than previously estimated. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.29% rose 12 points, or 0.5%, to 2,729. The Dow DJIA, +0.49% climbed 162 points, or 0.7%, to 24,889 while the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.13% gained 27 points, or 0.4%, to 7,392.