9 stocks dodge the Fed's bullet

Investors know full well a hit from higher short-term interest rates might be coming this year. But they can rest since they dodged the bullet for now.

Nine stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500, including gold miner Newmont Mining (NEM), real-estate investment trust Essex Property Trust (ESS) and energy firm Murphy Oil (MUR), rose 2.4% or more Tuesday after the Federal Reserve's decision triggered a sort of relief rally. The Fed held short-term interest rates steady as widely expected sparking a 164 point, or 0.9%, gain by the Dow Jones industrial average to 18,294.

Investors have good reason to fear higher short-term interest rates and when they come. Stocks' returns are about 40% lower than usual when the Fed is hiking rates, according to research by Robert Johnson, CEO of the American College of Financial Services. Stocks in the consumer discretionary and financial sectors tend to get hit hardest during the entire rate hiking period.

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Real-estate investment trusts were the big winners as their allure to investors, their high dividend yields, will remain relatively attractive again with the Fed on hold. Five of the nine best performing stocks after the Fed's move were from the real-estate sector. Essex Property, for instance, yields 2.8%, above the roughly 2% yield on the S&P 500 and well above the 1% interest even high-yield savings accounts are paying.

BIGGEST S&P 500 WINNERS AFTER FED DECISION

Company, symbol, change from before announcement

Newmont Mining, NEW, 3.2%

Murphy Oil, MUR, 3%

Freeport-McMoRan, FCX, 2.8%

Essex Property, ESS, 2.5%

Kimco Realty, KIM, 2.4%

Boston Properties, BXP, 2.4%

Prologis, PLD, 2.4%

Welltower, HCN, 2.4%

FirstEnergy, FE, 2.4%

Source: USA TODAY, S&P Global Market Intelligence

There are losers, too, mainly the financials. Bank-stock investors have been hoping the Fed would boost rates sooner than later, giving the banks a chance to charge more for loans before demand for loans cools. Eight of the 10 worst performing S&P 500 stocks in the wake of the Fed's move are all financials including lender Navient (NAVI), Regions Financial (RF) and Bank of America (BAC).

We'll have to see what happens if the Fed's bullet comes in December.

BIGGEST S&P 500 LOSERS AFTER FED DECISION

Company, symbol, change from before announcement

Navient, NAVI, -1.2%

Regions Financial, RF, -0.5%

Bank of America, BAC, -0.4%

Citizens Financial, CFG, -0.4%

Monsanto, MON, -0.5%

M&T Bank, MTB, -0.2%

BorgWarner, BWA, -0.1%

PNC Financial, PNC, -0.1%

Fifth Third, FITB, 0%

Juniper Networks, JNPR, 0%

Source: USA TODAY, S&P Global Market Intelligence