Bulls Charge Ahead as S&P 500 and Dow Jones Scale Remarkable Heights
Optimism flooded Wall Street on Thursday following the Federal Reserve’s surprising decision to initiate a historic interest rate cut, the first in over four years.
This bold move, a 50-basis-point cut by the central bank, jolted analysts, propelling the U.S. stock market to unprecedented levels as Thursday’s trading session commenced.
The S&P 500 catapulted to a new pinnacle, breaching the 5,700-point mark, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average scaled to an uncharted territory of 42,000 points.
Within the initial 30 minutes of trading, both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones leaped by 1.4% and 1% respectively. The Nasdaq 100 also joined the upwards trend with a 1.5% climb, while the Russell 2000, representing small-cap stocks, outshone them all with an impressive surge of over 2%.
This market rally was predominantly steered by the Magnificent Seven: Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc., NVIDIA Corp., Alphabet Inc., Amazon Inc, Meta Platforms Inc., and Tesla, Inc. Each member of this illustrious group saw daily gains ranging from 1.5% to 4.5%, firmly establishing them in positive territory.
Charting the Record-Breaking Ascent of the S&P 500
Labor Market Strength and Analyst Optimism Drive Market Vigor
Thursday’s economic data further emboldened investors, with weekly jobless claims reporting well below expectations, hinting at a more positive employment trend.
In addition, decreasing continuing jobless claims surpassed projections, indicating a potential re-entry of long-term unemployed individuals into the workforce, alleviating concerns about rising unemployment and nurturing a more sanguine economic outlook.
Market analysts swiftly recalibrated their projections post the Federal Reserve’s rate adjustment, with growing expectations for additional rate cuts, contrasting the cautious sentiment expressed in the Fed’s September “dot plot” and Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks during the press conference.
Notably, Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius revamped his outlook from anticipating a 25-basis-point cut every other meeting to forecasting a rate cut at each meeting. He even hinted at the possibility of a consecutive 50-basis-point slash in November.
The Top-Performing Stocks of the Day: S&P 500 and Dow Jones
Among the S&P 500, the top five performers by 10 a.m. ET were:
| Name | 1-day Return |
|---|---|
| Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI) | 7.46% |
| Airbnb, Inc. (ABNB) | 5.27% |
| Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS) | 4.40% |
| Lam Research Corporation (LCRX) | 4.34% |
| NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) | 4.33% |
Top Performers Among Dow Jones Industrial Average Stocks
Leading the charge among Dow Jones stocks were:
| Name | 1-day Return |
|---|---|
| Apple Inc. (AAPL) | 3.02% |
| Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) | 3.01% |
| The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) | 2.80% |
| Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) | 2.71% |
| American Express Company (AXP) | 2.67% |
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