US stocks rose on Thursday as interest rate sensitive areas of the market rallied in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s pivot to more rate cuts in 2024.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.4% or more than 150 points, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) popped over 0.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.2%. The Dow Jones set a new all time high for the second-straight day.
On Wednesday, the Fed’s final policy decision of 2023 signaled the central bank is unlikely to hike interest rates further and could even cut rates three times next year. The news sparked a rally in the Real Estate sector which rose nearly 3% on Thursday.
Bank stocks also soared with Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) all rallying roughly 6%. The small cap Russell 2000 Index (^RUT) also popped more than 2.5%.
Bonds rallied alongside stocks, sending the yield on the 10-year Treasury (^TNX) down below 4% on Thursday for the first time since August.
Meanwhile, oil prices moved up more than 3%, rebounding from the five-month low hit earlier this week. West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) futures traded at almost $72 a barrel, while Brent crude futures (BZ=F) rose nearly $77 a barrel.
