GovCon Wire Your Direct Source for Government Contracting News 
The GovCon Index rode across-the-board gains in U.S. stock market Wednesday with a rise of 0.714 points — or 1.016 percent — to 69.558.
As many investors expected, the Federal Reserve removed the word “patient” in its guidance on the next interest rate increase but the central bank also signaled it would wait to raise rates until it believes low inflation is on track to reach 2 percent and sees improvements in the job market, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal also reports traders think the Fed will likely not raise rates in June due in part to a strengthening U.S. dollar and concerns over economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.27 percent to 18, 076.19, the S&P 500 composite index rose 1.21 percent to 2, 099.41 and the NASDAQ composite index gained 0.92 percent — or 45.39 points — to 4982.83.
Top Percentage Gainers
| Company | Stock Price | $ Change | % Change |
| Serco Inc. | 2.63 | 0.14 | 5.62% |
| BAE Systems Inc. | 32.64 | 0.84 | 2.64% |
| Intelsat | 11.46 | 0.29 | 2.60% |
| Healthnet | 60.35 | 1.48 | 2.51% |
| Engility Holdings | 32.82 | 0.79 | 2.47% |
Market Summary
| Advancing Issues | 29 (96.66%) |
| Declining Issues | 1 (3.33%) |
| Unchanged Issues | 0 |
Executive Mosaic‘s GovCon Index is a composite index that tracks 30 of the largest publicly-traded Government Contracting (GovCon) firms.
