© Marketwatch
U.S. stock indexes rallied on Thursday afternoon as investors digested a flurry of economic data and bet that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its aggressive monetary tightening cycle despite hawkish rate outlook. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 440 points, or 1.3%, to 34,423 after climbing nearly 500 points to its session high. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each advanced 1.4%, on pace to their highest closes since April 2022. The Federal Reserve Wednesday announced its decision to hold its benchmark fed-funds rate unchanged at a range of 5% to 5.25% but projected further rate rises were likely to lower inflation. One day later, the European Central Bank lifted its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, declining to follow the Fed’s decision to take a break from its aggressive hiking path.