The rally was a delayed yet emphatic response to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to cut interest rates by a half percentage point that pushed the S&P 500 to its first reco

Good news for those building up their 401(k)s: the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at record highs after the Fed's rate cuts.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday, as traders’ expectations for the Federal Reserve to deliver a 50-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday continued to grow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 228.30 points or 0.

Key Takeaways The S&P 500 traded near a record high on Wednesday immediately after the Federal Reserve's first interest-rate cut in more than four years.Anticipation of the cut—which ended up being half a percentage point—boosted stocks,

The S&P 500 closed at a record high on Thursday as investors bet the Federal Reserve’s jumbo half-point interest rate cut would help deliver a soft landing for the US economy. Wall Street’s benchmark index rose 1.

Europe was waiting to see if the Bank of England delivers a surprise cut of its own later. That is seen as only an outside chance, so for the time being the bulls were content with the first Fed cut in four years.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has joined a global easing cycle with a larger-than-anticipated half-point interest rate reduction. Seven of the 10 big developed-market central banks tracked by Reuters have now started easing policy.