Dow hits high as Wall Street cheers Powell's speech

Wall Street's main indexes ended higher on Friday, with the blue-chip Dow hitting a record closing high, as investors piled into stocks after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at a near-term interest-rate cut during his Jackson Hole Symposium speech.

His comments paved the way for a potential rate cut at the Fed's September meeting, although Powell stressed the importance of jobs and inflation data due before then.

"Powell did what central bankers do best at Jackson Hole - he kept the door open," said Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group. "A cut in September would reassure households and businesses that the central bank is not asleep at the wheel. Delaying only raises the odds of a harder landing."

Traders boosted bets on a September rate cut after Powell's comments, now placing a nearly 90% chance of a reduction, versus about 75% before Powell's remarks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 846.24 points, or 1.89%, to 45,631.74, surpassing its most recent record close on December 4, 2024. The S&P 500 gained 96.74 points, or 1.52%, to 6,466.91 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 396.22 points, or 1.88%, to 21,496.54.

Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sub-sectors traded higher, with consumer discretionary the biggest gainer, up 3.18%.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index soared 2.7%, while most megacap growth stocks also jumped. Tesla led gains with 6.2%.

The rate-sensitive Russell 2000 Index surged 4.1%, hitting its highest level so far this year.

With gains on Friday, the S&P 500 snapped a five-day losing streak after a broad selloff in heavyweight technology stocks pressured U.S. equities this week.

For the week, both the S&P and Dow ended with gains, while the Nasdaq fell 0.6% as investors sold this week megacap tech stocks and rotated into less-pricey stocks.

U.S. stocks have rebounded sharply from April lows - when markets were rattled by President Donald Trump's tariff announcements. Recently, indexes have been getting back up to record highs.

A spate of resilient earnings, optimism around trade deals and growing chances of interest-rate cuts have been some of the main gain drivers, although some concerns persist.

"Investors are cheering Powell's comments like it's the start of a rate-cut parade. But one cut won't move the needle on consumer spending. The bigger question is whether this marks a true pivot in Fed policy - or if rising tariffs will force it to slam the brakes before that shift even begins," said Zak Stambor, senior analyst for retail and ecommerce at Emarketer.

Earlier in the day, UBS Global Wealth Management lifted its year-end target for the S&P 500 for the second time in two months, betting on corporate earnings strength, easing trade tensions and expectations of interest-rate cuts.

Among other top movers, Intel gained 5.5% as the White House was expected to announce on Friday the acquisition of a 10% stake in the company. Coinbase also soared 6.5% as investors scooped up crypto-related shares after Powell's speech.

Intuit dropped roughly 5% after the TurboTax-maker forecast first-quarter revenue growth below analysts' estimates due to weak performance at its Mailchimp marketing platform.

Workday shed 3% after the human resources software provider provided an in-line outlook for the current quarter.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 9.43-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 590 new highs and 42 new lows on the NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and no new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 166 new highs and 47 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 17.93 billion shares, compared with the 17.08 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.