The Dow Jones ended up 130.30 points, while the S&P 500 hit a new high, accepting the Fed's forecast of budget cuts.

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The Dow Jones New York stock index finished positive on Thursday (March 7), while the S&P 500 closed at a record high and the Nasdaq up 1.5%, with the biggest gains in technology and growth stocks. This comes amid growing investor confidence in the possibility of the Federal Reserve (Fed) cutting interest rates this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 38,791.35 points, up 130.30 points, or +0.34%, the S&P500 index ended at 5,157.36 points, up 52.60 points, or +1.03%, and the NASDAQ was up 7 points, up 31 points, or +0.88%. 241.83 points or +1.51%.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor stock index rose 3.36% to close at a record high. This is due to investors flocking to buy shares of chip makers. It is expected to benefit from demand related to artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Mr. Jerome Powell told a committee of the US Senate. The central bank is close to believing that inflation is falling towards the 2% target, making interest rate cuts possible.

Mr. Powell's comments bolstered investor confidence that the Fed will cut interest rates for the first time in June this year.

Additionally, the release of economic data supports the interest rate cut trend. The U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of first-time applicants for unemployment benefits rose by 217,000 last week. No change from the previous week. And in line with analysts' predictions.

Previous disclosures indicate that the US labor market is slowing. But it's still going strong. Investors will await the release of US February nonfarm payrolls data on Friday. To indicate details about labor market conditions

Nine of the 11 S&P 500 stocks posted higher gains. They rose 1.84% and 1.89% respectively.

Key growth stocks helped support the market, with Meta shares up 3.2% and Nvidia shares up 4.5%.

Shares of Kroger, a major consumer goods retailer, rose 9.8% after forecasting annual sales and profit that beat market expectations.

Source: InfoQuest News Agency