*

Fed holds rates steady as expected, keeps 3 rate cuts in

sight

*

Stocks gain steam after statement that raised growth

outlook

*

Powell presser adds to dovish interpretation

*

Indexes up: Dow 1.03%, S&P 0.89%, Nasdaq 1.25%

(Adds final closing data, market details)

By Sinéad Carew and Bansari Mayur Kamdar

March 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes

closed higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve eased

investor jitters by keeping borrowing costs unchanged and

reinforcing expectations that rates could be cut as many as

three times this year.

The Fed's policy statement described inflation as remaining

"elevated," and it raised economic projections for economic

growth and lowered its projection for the unemployment rate from

estimates it provided in December.

Stocks added to gains after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in

a press conference that despite recent inflation data coming in

hotter than expected, the numbers "haven't really changed the

overall story, which is that of inflation moving down gradually,

on a somewhat bumpy road."

Strategists said Wall Street was reassured by Powell's

comments on inflation and the labor market and his signal that

the Fed will slow the pace of its drawdown of bond holdings.

"He said he wasn't trying to dismiss any data but he kind of

gave the market a reason they could use to dismiss the data,"

said Alex Coffey, senior trading strategist at TD Ameritrade.

"We came in to this day feeling Jerome Powell might push

back on market expectations or pivot away from dovish

expectations since December because of the data we've had in the

last two months," Coffey said. "While he didn't necessarily go

full dove, it was dovish versus recent market worries."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 401.37 points,

or 1.03%, to 39,512.13, the S&P 500 gained 46.11 points,

or 0.89%, to 5,224.62 and the Nasdaq Composite gained

202.62 points, or 1.25%, to 16,369.41.

Nine of the S&P's 11 major sectors advanced, with five of

them climbing more than 1%. Consumer discretionary led

the way with a 1.5% gain.

The health sector was the weakest, falling 0.23%.

In healthcare, U.S.-listed shares of BioNTech

dropped 4.4% after it reported a 2023 revenue and earnings

plunge as it shifted focus to cancer drug development. Shares of

COVID-19 vaccine makers Moderna ( MRNA ) fell 1.9% while Novavax ( NVAX )

dropped 2.2%.

The biggest boost to the consumer discretionary sector was

Amazon.com ( AMZN ), whose shares gained 1.3%.

Adding to this was Tesla, which gained 2.5% after

confirming to Reuters that it will raise the price of its

China-produced Model Y vehicles by 5,000 yuan ($694.55) from

April 1.

Also in the consumer sector, Chipotle Mexican Grill ( CMG )

shares climbed 3.5% after the company said its board had

approved a 50-for-1 split of common stock.

Equinix ( EQIX ) shares eased 2.3% after Hindenburg Research

said it has taken a short position in the data center operator.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.76-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE which showed 633 new highs and 71 new lows.

The S&P 500 posted 81 new 52-week highs and one new low

while the Nasdaq recorded 251 new highs and 101 new lows.

On U.S. exchanges, 11.67 billion shares changed hands

compared with the 12.2 billion average for the last 20 sessions.