Waller's Comments Fuel US Stock Rally as September Risks Persist

U.S. stocks started Thursday on a high note, rising as Treasury yields fell and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller hinted at keeping interest rates unchanged in September.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed around 395 points, or 0.7%, to 9:34 a.m. ET, while the S&P 500 gained roughly 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite rose about 0.6%, according to Reuters.

Waller's comments helped ease concerns about rate hikes, which pushed Treasury yields lower. The 10-year yield fell to around 4.75%, while the two-year yield slipped to roughly 4.32%. Lower yields can support stock valuations, particularly for tech and growth companies like Nvidia and Snowflake.

Nvidia surged around 2% after announcing a $13 billion acquisition of artificial-intelligence platform Hugging Face, while Snowflake rose about 25% following an upbeat revenue outlook. However, Broadcom dropped more than 5% as investors reacted to its latest forecast.