01:31 PM EDT, 09/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose midday Thursday as high-growth sectors such as technology and communication services advanced after the Federal Reserve opted to go big as it eased monetary policy for the first time in four years.

The S&P 500 index jumped 1.8% to 5,721.3, with the Nasdaq Composite up 2.8% to 18,060.8 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.3% higher at 42,051.4. The S&P 500 and the Dow touched new intraday record highs of 5,725.16 and 42,105.01, respectively. In the mega-cap category, Tesla (TSLA), Nvidia ( NVDA ) , Meta Platforms ( META ) , Apple ( AAPL ) , Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), and Microsoft ( MSFT ) were among the strongest performers, with gains of at least 1.8% intraday.

Consumer discretionary was among the gainers intraday, while utilities led the trio of decliners.

The Russell 2000 index, home to smaller companies, jumped 2.1% to 2,252.69 as the Fed move will likely ease financial conditions.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee Wednesday reduced the benchmark Fed funds rate to 4.75% to 5%, the first time since March 2020, compared with the Bloomberg-compiled consensus for a 25-point cut. The Fed has been on the sidelines for 13 months, waiting for the fruits of its tight policy to emerge.

"Risks to inflation have come down while risks to the labor market have risen," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note. "To show their commitment to not falling behind the curve and in their confidence in inflation's progress, (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell asserted a large first move was warranted."

In a summary of economic projections, FOMC members pegged the key rate at 4.4% this year, down from 5.1% predicted in June. The pace of cuts will take it to a 3.4% average next year, compared with 4.1% seen in June. They also raised unemployment rate views to 4.4% this year from June's estimate of 4% and reduced the outlook for inflation and economic growth in 2024, but kept views on expansion unchanged for next year.

"The strong signal from the committee is probably that they are more concerned about the risks facing the outlook for the US economy and seeking to counter them with more easing," Scotiabank's head of capital markets economics, Derek Holt, said in a note. The Fed's revised dot-plot showed most members expect another 50 basis points of cuts over the remaining two meetings this year.

The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as the fear gauge, slumped 8% as demand for protection receded in a bullish equity environment.

Most US Treasury yields rose intraday, with the 10-year yield up 5.6 basis points to 3.74%.

In economic news Thursday, US initial jobless claims declined sequentially to 219,000 in the week ended Sept. 14 from an upwardly revised 231,000, compared with expectations for 230,000 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The four-week moving average fell by 3,500 to 227,500.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's monthly manufacturing index rebounded to 1.7 in September after falling to minus 7.0 in August, above the expectations for a flat reading in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The index indicates expansion, as did Empire State on Monday.

In company news, Darden Restaurants ( DRI ) maintained its full-year outlook on Thursday despite reporting lower-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results amid slowing traffic in July. Shares jumped 8.9% intraday, the top gainer on the S&P 500.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures advanced 1.8% to $72.18 a barrel.

Gold rose 0.6% to $2,614.60 an ounce, and silver jumped 2.3% to $31.40.