The U.S. Federal Reserve has unveiled plans to keep short-term interest rates close to zero until late 2014.

The U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee held its first regular meeting of the year on Wednesday and explained that recent economic conditions would justify the bank’s move to keep interest rates at record-low rates. The Fed has kept its key interest rate at a record low near zero for three years.

The bank also said the U.S. economy is growing moderately, despite some slowing in global growth.

Following the bank’s announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange rose to the highest level since May and the Nasdaq composite index surged. News that Apple’s profit more than doubled also drove up the Nasdaq on Wednesday.