04:28 PM EDT, 03/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes rose Thursday, stretching their record closing runs from Wednesday when the Federal Reserve maintained its expectations for three rate cuts this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.7% to 39,781.4, while the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 5,241.5. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% 16,401.8. Industrials paced sector gainers, followed by financials. Only utilities and communication services closed lower.

On Wednesday, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee held its benchmark lending rate steady at 5.25% to 5.50%, marking the fifth straight pause. The FOMC left its median year-end rate expectation unchanged at 4.6%, indicating three cuts, but raised the outlooks for 2025 and 2026.

"Despite a higher long-run rate, long-run (economic) growth was unchanged at 1.8%, indicating the Fed sees recent supply-side factors driving growth higher as temporary," Morgan Stanley said in a Thursday note. The brokerage said it continues to expect four cuts in 2024.

The US two-year yield rose 4.1 basis points to 4.65%, while the 10-year rate was flat at 4.27%.

In economic news, US existing home sales climbed 9.5% month over month in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.38 million units, the biggest gain since February 2023, the National Association of Realtors said. The consensus was for a decline to a 3.95 million level, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

"Additional housing supply is helping to satisfy market demand," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.

US private-sector growth slowed in March even as manufacturing output rose at the fastest pace in nearly two years, according to S&P Global's (SPGI) flash purchasing managers' index. Business optimism improved overall, the firm said.

Manufacturing activity in the US Mid-Atlantic region fell this month, the Philadelphia Fed said, but remained unexpectedly positive, while expectations improved.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil slid 0.3% to $81.05 per barrel Thursday.

In company news, Micron Technology ( MU ) shares surged 14%, the top gainer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The memory and storage product maker late Wednesday unexpectedly swung to a profit for the fiscal second quarter as pricing gains propelled revenue above Wall Street's estimates.

Accenture ( ACN ) on Thursday lowered its full-year revenue growth outlook amid macroeconomic uncertainties as the consulting firm's fiscal second-quarter sales fell short of market expectations. The company's shares slumped 9.3%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500.

Apple ( AAPL ) was the worst performer on the Dow and among the steepest decliners on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, down 4.1%. The iPhone maker is facing a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice and 16 state and district attorneys general for alleged "monopolization or attempted monopolization" of smartphone markets.

Apple ( AAPL ) said the suit was "wrong on the facts and the law" and that the company planned to defend against it.

Gold rose 1% to $2,182.90 per troy ounce, while silver slid 0.7% to $24.93 per ounce.