12:42 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 5,719.5, with the Nasdaq Composite up 2.8% to 18,060.5 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.3% higher at 42,030.8. 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 2% intraday.

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

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.

Most US Treasury yields rose intraday, with the 10-year yield up 5.3 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.

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 8.5% intraday, the top gainer on the S&P 500.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures advanced 2.1% to $72.42 a barrel.