Dow Tops 42,000 After Big Fed Rate Cut 9/19/24

Stocks are surging as traders digest the Fed’s decision to lower interest rates by a half percentage point. The Dow and S&P 500 both advanced to new intraday highs, while the Nasdaq surged nearly 3%. Traders also got further validation that the Fed was engineering a “soft landing” for the economy as weekly jobless claims fell by 12,000 to 219,000, which was far below estimates. We’ll cover the market action from all angles.