US Stock Markets Today: Wall Street Rallies On Fed Rate Cut; Intel Stock Zooms 25%

The US stock market opened higher on Thursday after the Federal Reserve announced a rate cut of 25 basis points.

The S&P 500 opened 0.41% or 26.93 points higher at 6,627.28, while tech-heavy Nasdaq rose nearly 200 points in early trade and was trading 0.81% higher at 22,442.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average extended its rally and rose 0.57% or 260 points at 46,018.32. Nasdaq later climbed beyond 200 points to trade at 22,495.

Shares of Intel Corp were the top winner in the S&P index and jumped nearly 25% or 6.19 points to $31.09. Tesla was also among the winners and traded 0.69% higher at $428.80. Microsoft's stock also rose 0.22% to trade at $511.12. However, Apple's scrip ticked 0.49% lower to trade at $237.53.

"The Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates during a time when stocks are at record highs and the economy is still growing," Robert Schein at Blanke Schein Wealth Management told Bloomberg. "This dynamic is bullish for stocks."

Only two of the 11 sectoral indices traded lower on Thursday, with Information Technology, Industrials, and Communications sectors leading the gains. The two sectors in the red were Consumer Staples and Materials sector, trading 0.69% and 0.30% lower within the first hour of trade.

As the US market opened, spot gold was trading 0.57% lower at $3,639.29 an ounce. Crude oil prices traded 0.63% higher at $68.38 a barrel.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.5% while the euro fell 0.4% to $1.1761. The British pound fell 0.6% to $1.3548 and the Japanese yen fell 0.8% to 148.11 per dollar

Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency, rose 1.5% to $117,404.48.