Dow, S&P 500 hit all-time highs, but labor market concerns linger
Major stock indexes surged to all-time highs Thursday in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it was lowering interest rates by half a percentage point.
Major stock indexes surged to all-time highs Thursday in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it was lowering interest rates by half a percentage point.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed more than 500 points higher, up 1.3% on the day,
The S&P 500, the broadest index of publicly traded companies, added 1.7% and also touched new highs. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose more than 2.5%, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies added 2.1%.
The Fed’s cut was widely expected, but it came in larger than many analysts were forecasting. At a news conference announcing the decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the U.S. economy “is in a good place” and that by cutting rates, the Fed wanted to “keep it there.”
“The economy is growing at a solid pace,” he said. “Inflation is coming down closer to our 2% objective over time. And the labor market is still in solid shape. So our intention is really to maintain the strength that we currently see in the U.S. economy.”
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