The markets surged to close sharply higher as investors interpreted the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates steady as a vote of confidence in the economy. The Dow leaped 332 points to 11,616 while Nasdaq jumped 64 points to 2350.

On the upside

Second quarter earnings fell for MGM Mirage (Nasdaq: MGM) due to lower room rates and less spending by visitors but revenue beat expectations. The casino operator also announced that it has secured more than half the financing to build its $9.1 billion CityCenter project.

Shares of Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) surged ahead of its earnings release on Friday. Analysts expect the company to report another loss.

Oil prices continued to fall lifting shares of United Air Lines parent UAL (Nasdaq: UAUA), American Airlines parent AMR (NYSE: AMR) and US Airways Group (NYSE: LCC) .

On the downside

Although Reliant Energy (NYSE: RRI) swung to a profit for the second quarter, the stock price fell.

Second quarter earnings plunged for Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE: TAP) as expenses soared.

While Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) narrowed second quarter earnings, revenue fell short of estimates sending the stock price tumbling.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks jumped 17 points to 721.