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Stocks Rise After Fed Holds Rates - CNNMoney.com -- Stocks closed higher Tuesday after the Federal Reserve voted to keep interest rates at historic lows and Standard & Poor's did not downgrade Greece's credit rating.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44 points, or 0.4%. The S&P 500 index added 9 points, or 0.8%, to close at a fresh 18-month high. The Nasdaq composite gained 16 points, or 0.7%.

Stocks have been grinding higher in recent weeks as traders remain bullish about the economic recovery.

Fed: Low rates will continue - CNNMoney.com -- The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate near 0% once again Tuesday and said rates should stay this low for the foreseeable future.

Fed policymakers repeated their prediction that economic conditions are likely to result in "exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period." That promise of an easy-money policy has been in place since March 2009.

The so-called fed funds rate, a benchmark that determines the interest paid by consumers and businesses on a wide variety of loans, has been near 0% since December 2008, as the central bank worked to spur greater lending and economic activity.

Besides low interest rates, the Fed has pumped trillions of dollars into the U.S. economy over the last two years through the purchases of mortgage-backed securities, long-term Treasurys and special lending programs.

Most of those programs are at or near an end. The Fed said it is close to completing its planned purchases of $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities which it started in November 2008. It has long targeted the end of the first quarter for the completion of this program.

Some economists are worried that mortgage rates will start to rise once the Fed is no longer buying mortgages.