Wall Street celebrated a historic milestone today as the S&P 500 surged past 6,500 for the first time following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's announcement of an aggressive rate-cutting strategy through the remainder of 2026.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to cut the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, bringing it to 3.75% — the lowest level since early 2023. Powell indicated at least three additional cuts are planned before year-end.
"Inflation has sustainably returned to our 2% target, and we see clear evidence that the labor market is cooling in an orderly fashion," Powell said at the post-meeting press conference. "It's time to recalibrate our monetary policy stance."
The announcement triggered a broad market rally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1.8%, the Nasdaq Composite rising 2.4%, and small-cap stocks surging 3.1%. Bond yields fell sharply, with the 10-year Treasury yield dropping to 3.2%.
Housing stocks were among the biggest gainers, with the expectation that lower rates will reignite the housing market. Homebuilder stocks like D.R. Horton and Lennar rose 6-8% in the session.
Economists at Goldman Sachs raised their 2026 GDP growth forecast to 3.2%, citing the combined impact of rate cuts and ongoing AI-driven productivity gains.