US open: Stocks higher as investors cheer Fed rate cut

Wall Street stocks were firmly in the green early on Thursday as traders celebrated the Federal Reserve's decision to slash interest rates by half a percentage point.

As of 1600 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.92% at 41,883.27, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.54% to 5,704.53 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 2.44% firmer at 18,001.31.

The Dow opened 380.17 points higher on Thursday, easily reversing losses recorded in the previous session despite stocks initially rallying to a fresh record high on the back of the Fed's announcement.

The US central bank cut its overnight lending rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%, down from 5.25% to 5.5%, which surprised many investors and analysts with its first rate reduction in four years, most of which were expecting a 0.25% cut.

On the macro front for Thursday, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 14 September, according to the Labor Department, beating market expectations. Initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 219,000, a four-month low that, while better than market expectations for a reading of 230,000, remained well above the average seen earlier in 2024.

Elsewhere, manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly expanded in September after contracting sharply the previous month, though current indicators for the industry still remain mixed. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the current general activity index for manufacturing jumped from a seven-month low of 7.0 in August to 1.7 last month, surpassing the -1.0 reading expected by economists

Finally, existing US homes sales fell in August despite a fall in mortgage rates during the month, according to data published on Thursday. Sales decreased 2.5% month on month to a 3.86 million, the National Association of Realtors said. House prices continued to rise, with the median on an existing home rising 3.1% to a new record high of $416,700.

“Home sales were disappointing again in August, but the recent development of lower mortgage rates coupled with increasing inventory is a powerful combination that will provide the environment for sales to move higher in future months,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $504.27 4.06%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $229.16 3.84%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $367.62 3.52%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $259.60 2.84%
American Express Co. (AXP) $269.35 2.73%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $21.33 2.67%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $52.88 2.40%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $439.67 2.06%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $9.19 1.98%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $146.54 1.79%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $171.76 -1.24%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $212.43 -1.17%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $117.65 -0.83%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $78.40 -0.80%
Visa Inc. (V) $286.27 -0.77%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $43.54 -0.76%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $164.95 -0.72%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $576.93 -0.64%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $71.32 -0.59%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $239.23 -0.22%

S&P 500 - Risers

Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $170.90 7.39%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $156.49 5.53%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $771.20 5.49%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $8.10 5.27%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $195.64 5.10%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $119.06 5.02%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $793.77 5.01%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $76.64 4.81%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $7.65 4.65%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $282.10 4.60%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Ventas Inc. (VTR) $62.49 -2.68%
NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) $82.20 -2.47%
Realty Income Corp. (O) $60.79 -2.24%
American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $230.89 -2.14%
Gallagher Arthur J (AJG) $285.75 -1.86%
Regency Centers Corp. (REG) $72.02 -1.83%
Crown Castle International (CCI) $115.65 -1.81%
NiSource Inc. (NI) $33.47 -1.75%
Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED) $101.66 -1.69%
Perrigo Company plc (PRGO) $27.70 -1.63%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.61 7.90%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $28.54 6.02%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $771.20 5.49%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $239.68 5.49%
Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $830.72 5.44%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $24.50 5.29%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $195.64 5.10%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $119.06 5.02%
Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $793.77 5.01%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $76.64 4.81%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $10.02 -2.05%
Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $74.60 -1.41%
Mondelez International Inc. (MDLZ) $74.91 -0.19%
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) $35.10 -0.11%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $71.10 -0.08%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $0.00 0.00%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $0.00 0.00%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $5.77 0.00%
Shire Plc Ads (SHPG) $0.00 0.00%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $94.42 0.00%