Stocks held on to their gains on Wall Street Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled it may begin easing its extraordinary support measures for the economy later this year.

       The central bank said it may start raising its benchmark interest rate sometime next year, earlier than it envisioned three months ago. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq composite all closed higher.

       On Wednesday:

       The S&P 500 rose 41.45 points, or 1%, to 4,395.64.

       The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 338.48 points, or 1%, to 34,258.32.

       The Nasdaq rose 150.45 points, or 1%, to 14,896.85.

       The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 32.38 points, or 1.5%, to 2,218.56.

       For the week:

       The S&P 500 is down 37.35 points, or 0.8%.

       The Dow is down 326.56 points, or 0.9%.

       The Nasdaq is down 147.12 points, or 1%.

       The Russell 2000 is down 18.31 points, or 0.8%.

       For the year:

       The S&P 500 is up 639.57 points, or 17%.

       The Dow is up 3,651.84 points, or 11.9%.

       The Nasdaq is up 2,008.57 points, or 15.6%.

       The Russell 2000 is up 243.71 points, or 12.3%.