Dow Soars 600 Points as Rate Hike Bets Ease Amid Waller Comments
The US stock market experienced a significant rally on Thursday as investors reduced their expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike this month. Fed Governor Christopher Waller's comments contributed to this shift in sentiment, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield pulling back to around 4.77%. This decline came despite elevated oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate crude trading above $91 a barrel and Brent crude remaining above $95.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.18%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained more than 1%. The Dow climbed 627.37 points to close at 53,689.32, marking its best session since August 4. Technology and AI-related stocks supported the broader market advance, with Nvidia shares rising after announcing a $12.9 billion agreement to acquire developer platform Hugging Face.
ServiceNow, Salesforce, and Adobe also ended higher, adding to gains across the software sector. Meanwhile, Broadcom fell 2% after its latest quarterly results included a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast for the fiscal fourth quarter. Investors are now turning their attention to Friday's US employment report for further clues about the Federal Reserve's policy path.