US stocks extended gains on Thursday as investors continued to digest Donald Trump’s electoral victory and awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy decision due this afternoon.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose roughly 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) moved up than 1.3% as shares of chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) and e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) rose to new highs.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) hovered near the flat line, on the heels of a 1,500-point gain that marked the blue-chip gauge’s best day since 2022.
Spirits still appeared buoyant after Trump’s presidential election win, which sent all three major stock gauges soaring to fresh record highs on Wednesday. His plans for corporate tax cuts and deregulation have fueled optimism for a boost to the economy that will feed into stocks.
The Fed’s interest rate decision later Thursday could be the next catalyst that moves markets.
Investors see a 25 basis point rate cut as pretty much a sure thing at the end of policymakers’ two-day meeting. The focus is on what Chair Jerome Powell might reveal about the future path of policy, especially as Trump’s return could mean rates stay higher for longer.
On the corporate front, Arm Holdings (ARM) stock fell as the chip designer’s revenue forecast disappointed Wall Street’s hopes for stronger, AI-powered growth. By contrast, peer Qualcomm’s (QCOM) shares jumped more than 4% after its sales and profit outlooks topped estimates.
Meanwhile, Trump Media & Technology Group stock (DJT) continued to pull back from the big spike that followed the election result. Shares in the company — the home of Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social — fell by double digits during the session.
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