12:47 PM EST, 11/24/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose after midday Monday as strong gains in high-growth sectors boosted investor risk sentiment amid a continuing increase in the odds for a December interest-rate cut.

The Nasdaq Composite soared 2.5% to 22,829.1, with the S&P 500 up 1.5% to 6,699.7 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.4% higher at 46,450.3.

All but two sectors, energy and consumer staples, fell. Communication services, consumer discretionary, and technology were the top gainers, reflecting growing expectations of policy easing for the third consecutive meeting of the Federal Reserve monetary policy committee on Dec. 10.

The CBOE Volatility Index slumped 10% to 21.08 intraday, retreating from its highest since April last week on Thursday, when investor worries related to AI capital expenditure and circular funding led to a sell-off in high-growth sectors even after Nvidia's ( NVDA ) strong results. Those concerns, however, took a back seat after New York Fed President John Williams said Friday he sees room for "further adjustment" to interest rates in the near term.

Williams has always voted with the Federal Open Market Committee majority and not taken an opposing view to Chair Jerome Powell, either during his role as the New York Fed President since 2018 or when he was the president of the San Fran Fed between 2011 and 2018, analysts from Pantheon Macroeconomics were cited as saying Friday in a report from Fortune.

The likelihood of a 25-basis-point cut in rates next month jumped to about 77% on Monday, up from 71% on Friday and 42% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Meanwhile, in company news, President Donald Trump is considering allowing Nvidia ( NVDA ) to sell advanced AI chips to China, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg TV on Monday. Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were up 2.3% intraday, among the Dow's leaders.

Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google Cloud reported the signing of a multi-million-dollar contract with the NATO Communication and Information Agency to deliver secure sovereign cloud capabilities. Shares soared 5.4% intraday.