Stocks struggled to a mixed finish on Wall Street yesterday after the Federal Reserve's widely-expected interest rate increase did little to calm the turbulent US financial markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 37.85, or 0.3 per cent, to close at 11,003.20. The Dow rose as much as 60 points in the moments before the Fed announced its decision, then bobbed between positive and negative territory for much of the rest of the session.

The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 0.16 to 1,409.12, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 21.95 to 4,073.93.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5-to-4 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,681 up, 1,340 down and 519 unchanged.