Investing.com-- The S&P 500 swelled to close above 5,700 for the first ever on Thursday, led by tech, a day after the Federal Reserve starting its easing cycle with a substantial half percentage point reduction.
At 4:00 p.m. ET (2000 GMT), the S&P 500 gained 1.7% to close at a record of 5,715.61, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 532 points, or 1.3%, and the NASDAQ Composite climbed 2.5%.
Tech jumps on post-Fed cut cheer
Big tech including Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) led the broader market higher following the Fed's decision Wednesday to cut its benchmark rate by 50 basis points to a range of 4.75% to 5%.
Chips were also in the ascendency, led by NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), with the latter announcing that it had no intention of selling its majority stake in Mobileye Global Inc (NASDAQ:MBLY).
Soft landing hopes boosted as rate-cutting cycle underway
The September Fed rate cut marked the beginning of an easing cycle that is likely to see rates fall further in the coming months. The Fed said a bulk of policymakers expect two more 25 bps cuts this year, but markets expect more.
Citi expects the Fed to cut rates by another 50 bps in its November meeting, but others, however, believe the Fed is more likely to deliver a 25 bps cut should incoming labor market data continue to show a moderate pace of slowing.
"Assuming we do not see a material pick-up in claims filings in the coming weeks, the data is setting the Fed up for a 25 bp rate cut at the next meeting in early November," Jefferies said Thursday after pace of jobless claims fell to the lowest level since May 17.
The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose by less than anticipated last week, with initial jobless claims coming in at 219,000 in the week ended on Sept. 14, compared with an upwardly revised 231,000 in the prior week.
Economists had forecast a consensus figure of 230,000.
Darden soars after Uber deal, Coursera jumps on BofA upgrade
There are more earnings to digest Thursday, including from shipping giant FedEx (NYSE:FDX), and homebuilder Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN).
Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) stock rose 8% after the Olive Garden-owner said it has entered into a delivery deal with Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER).
Coursera Inc (NYSE:COUR) jumped nearly 10% after Bank of America started coverage on the online education platform with a buy rating, citing growing revenue and margins.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)