03:52 PM EST, 11/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were higher ahead of Thursday's close after the Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.5% at 19,272.3, while the S&P 500 rose 0.8% to 5,977.4. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.1% to 43,788.4. All three indexes closed at record highs Wednesday after Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris to win the 2024 US presidential election, marking his return to the White House.

Among sectors, communication services and technology paced the gainers, while financials saw the steepest decline.

The Federal Open Market Committee cut interest rates to a range of 4.50% to 4.75% from 4.75% to 5%, in line with a Bloomberg-compiled consensus.

The US 10-year yield was down 8.9 basis points at 4.34%, while the two-year rate dropped 5.4 basis points to 4.21%.

Arista Networks (ANET), Airbnb (ABNB), Monster Beverage (MNST), Block (SQ), Pinterest (PINS) and DraftKings (DKNG) are among the major companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly financial results after Thursday's closing bell.

West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.6% at $72.11 a barrel.