US: Stocks end at record highs after Fed rate cut, Nvidia-Intel deal

US EQUITY indices finished at fresh records on Thursday following the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut of 2025 while Intel surged on Nvidia’s announcement it would take a stake in its rival.

All three major indices ended at fresh all-time records, with the S&P 500 up 0.5 per cent at 6,631.96.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.3 per cent to 26,142.42, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.9 per cent to 22,470.73.

The Fed on Wednesday agreed to trim interest rates by 25 basis points in an effort to buttress a weakening employment market.

The US central bank signaled it could cut interest rates two more times in 2025, although those decisions will depend on how the world’s largest economy evolves.

The move “was really a validation and confirmation that Fed officials are looking to move policy towards neutral, so the direction of travel for interest rates ... is going to be lower,” said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones.

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“So far, growth is holding up, the economy is chugging along. And that restricts a bit... how much easing the Fed will deliver,” he predicted.

Among individual companies, Intel shot up nearly 23 per cent after Nvidia announced it would invest US$5 billion in its struggling rival. Nvidia rose 3.5 per cent.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced last month that the US government would take a 10 per cent equity stake in Intel.

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