Fed Offers Measured Assessment Of Economy, Markets Close Flat

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at historic lows and offered a measured assessment of the recovery. The markets closed flat with the Dow adding 4 points to 10,298 while Nasdaq slipped 7 points to 2254.

On the upside

Lightbridge (Nasdaq: LTBR) developed a new nuclear fuel technology with significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions.

PacCrest upgraded electric battery maker A123 (Nasdaq: AONE) saying that demand for electric vehicles will climb in a backlash against the oil industry.

Soaring coal imports in China lifted shares of coal company Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU).

On the downside

A sharp drop in new home sales weighed down share of mortgage insurer PMI Group (NYSE: PMI).

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) filed a copyright infringement suit against Nebraska computer store QuickTeq Computers.

Collins Stewart analyst John Vinh downgraded ON Semiconductor (NYSE: ONNN) citing slowing demand in China.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 10 to 9 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a point to 644.