The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 extended their record closing runs into Thursday as the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 25 basis points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.5% to 19,269.5, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 5,973.1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained flat at 43,729.3, following a record close in the previous session.
The three indexes rallied Wednesday after Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris to win the 2024 US presidential election, marking his return to the White House. Among sectors, communication services and tech led the gainers Thursday, while financials saw the steepest decline. The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee reduced its benchmark lending rate to a range of 4.50% to 4.75%, aligning with a Bloomberg-compiled consensus and following a 50-basis-point cut in September. "If the economy remains strong and inflation is not sustainably moving toward 2%, we can dial back policy restraint more slowly," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday at a press conference.
"If the labor market were to weaken unexpectedly or inflation were to fall more quickly than anticipated, we can move more quickly." Powell confirmed that he would not resign if asked by President-Elect Trump, nor does he believe that the president has the authority to dismiss or demote Fed officials. The US 10-year yield fell 10 basis points to 4.33%, while the two-year rate dropped 7.3 basis points to 4.2%. In company news, Warner Bros.
Discovery ($WBD) recorded the strongest quarterly gain in subscribers for its Max streaming platform in the September period, alongside unexpected net income. The media and entertainment giant's shares surged nearly 12%, making it one of the top performers on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Viatris ($VTRS) experienced the second-biggest jump on the S&P 500, up 14%, following a third-quarter beat.
On the downside, Match Group ($MTCH) faced the steepest decline on the S&P 500, down 18%, after issuing a cautious fourth-quarter revenue outlook late Wednesday following a third-quarter miss. MercadoLibre ($MELI) shares tumbled 16% Thursday, marking the worst performance on the Nasdaq, after the company's third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street's expectations late Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $72.1 a barrel Thursday. In economic news, weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US rose for the first time in four weeks, while continuing claims reached their highest level since November 2021, according to government data. Pending home sale gains in the US held steady ahead of Tuesday's presidential election despite rising mortgage rates, which are likely to move "even higher for the foreseeable future," Redfin ($RDFN) reported Thursday. Gold increased 1.5% to $2,715.30 per troy ounce, while silver gained 2.5% to $32.11 per ounce..