Each of the major U.S. indexes notched a fresh all-time intraday high on Thursday, just a day after stocks had a volatile trading session Wednesday in the wake of the Fed’s rate cut.<\/p>\n
The Russell 2000 small-cap<\/a> index gained 2.4% and hit an intraday record. The benchmark last posted an all-time closing high in November 2021. Companies with smaller capitalizations tend to benefit from lower interest rates<\/a> as they often rely more on external funding for their operations and growth compared to larger, cash-rich firms. Not to mention, they are more linked to the economic cycle than Big Tech stocks riding the AI trend.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Russell 2000 performance over the past five years.<\/p>\n However, shares of some major tech companies were part of Thursday’s rally as well. Intel<\/a> shares rallied 22.8% after Nvidia<\/a> said it will invest $5 billion in the chipmaker<\/a> to co-develop data center and PC chips. It was Intel’s best day<\/a> in nearly 38 years. Shares of Nvidia jumped 3.5%.<\/p>\n The gains follow a volatile day of trading Wednesday after the Fed, as anticipated, slashed its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point<\/a>. The central bank forecast two more hikes this year, encouraging investors that hoped the Fed would keep going on an easier interest-rate path. Traders looked past Chair Jerome Powell’s characterization that the cut was part of “risk management” and assumed the Fed was pivoting to more of a focus on reviving economic growth and worrying less about inflation.<\/p>\n![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
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