Biggest S&P 500 Movers on Thursday

Gainers

• Darden Restaurants (DRI) soared 8.3% on Thursday after the operator of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse reported 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:improved sales trends following a downtick in foot traffic during July. Darden also announced plans to pilot an exclusive delivery partnership between Olive Garden and Uber (UBER) in select markets. If the collaboration proves successful, the companies intend to launch the program nationwide by May 2025.
• Following the Fed's aggressive rate cut yesterday, Tesla (TSLA) shares jumped 7.4%. Since many car buyers rely on financing to purchase a vehicle, automobile stocks tend to be sensitive to interest-rate changes. Elevated rates have weighed particularly on the affordability of electric vehicles (EVs), which typically come with steeper price tags than internal combustion options. In other positive news for Tesla, rival General Motors (GM) announced that it will offer an adapter that allows drivers to charge their GM EVs using Tesla's Supercharger network.
• Shares of energy infrastructure provider Quanta Services (PWR) added 6.5% after the investment analysis firm Wolfe Research initiated coverage of the stock with an "outperform" rating. Quanta, analysts said, is poised to benefit from numerous trends, such as the surge in power demand from data centers, transitioning to alternative energy sources, and mitigating climate risk.

Decliners

• Shares of Deckers Outdoor (DECK), the parent company of Ugg and Hoka footwear brands, fell 3.3%, making it the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500. The company announced a six-for-one stock split earlier this month, and the split-adjusted shares began trading this Tuesday. The stock has been volatile since the split went into effect.
• Shares of Ventas (VTR), a ไ澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on health care facilities, dropped 3.1%. Earlier this week, Ventas announced an agreement with Kindred Healthcare and its parent ScionHealth to purchase five long-term acute care (LTAC) facilities while extending its leases on 23 additional facilities into 2025.
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (AJG) stock also lost 3.1% on the day. Thursday's downturn represents a retreat from record-high levels, as shares of the insurance and risk management firm crossed the $300 threshold in intraday trading for the first time in history earlier this week.

-Michael Bromberg

Bitcoin Soars on Rate Cut; What's Next for the Cryptocurrency?

The price of Bitcoin (BTCUSD) jumped over $63,000 Thursday following a Federal Reserve 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:interest-rate cut. Stocks of crypto firms like MicroStrategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), and Marathon Digital (MARA) also saw their share prices climb on Thursday.

The Fed cutting rates "may be a welcome development for bitcoin bulls," FXTM Senior Market Analyst Lukman Otunuga said, adding that a signal of looser financial conditions can boost the appetite for riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Grayscale's Head of Research Zach Pandl said that the Fed's decision to cut rates came despite inflation risks remaining somewhat elevated.

"Central banks’ willingness to take risks with inflation tends to drive investors to store-of-value assets, like gold and Bitcoin," said Pandl, adding that despite choppy markets immediately after the announcement, "over time bitcoin will benefit from lower rates and a weaker dollar."

A negative economic outlook from the Fed could lead to a bitcoin reversal even in cases where rates are cut further, Otunuga s✨aid.

-Kyle Torpey

Homebuilder Stocks Rise ♍as Fed Rate Cut Looks Good For Mortgag🗹es

Homebuilder stocks are rising a day after the Federal Reserve kicked off its rate-cutting cycle, lowering the benchmark rate by 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:half a percentage point.

A lower federal funds rate exerts downward pressure on 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:mortgage rates, which are a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bit below 6%. That has helped lift shares of homebuilders such as KB Home (KBH), Smith Douglas Homes (SDHC), and Lennar Corporation (LEN) Thursday. 

Bank of America analysts are bullish on the sector, raising their price targets for seven homebuilding companies by an average of 11%. The biggest boost wen▨t to KB Home, which had its price target bumped 20% to $90 from $75. Shares of the Los Angeles-based company rose 𒊎about 3% Thursday.

Lower mortgage rates should drive more housing demand, the analysts wrote in a note Thursday, which s꧒hould in turn improve sales and margins for homebuilders.

Lennar is🧸 expected to r🌌eport earnings after the bell today. KB Home will report on Sept. 24.

-Andrew Kessel

Will the Fed's Rate Cut Help Small Cap Stocks?

Small-cap stocks were rising on Thursday amid a broad market rally after the Federal Reserve kicked off its long-awaited rate-cutting cycle with ✤a big half-percentage point cut yesterday. 

The small-cap Russell 2000 (RUT) climbed 2.1% Thursday, slightly outpacing the large-cap S&P 500's (SPX) 2% gain.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Small caps are 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:expected to benefit moreꦚ from lower interest rates than their large-cap peers because they are more likely to hold floating-rate debt. Small caps also have a far lar♚ger portion of their fixed-rate debt maturing in the next 5 years.

However, Bo🦋fA analysts warn that lower rates may not be enough to give small caps the edge over larger companies. September and October tend ꦏto be difficult for small caps, they note, and this year’s election and economic precarity add extra uncertainty to the mix. 

Plus, elevated rates and a slowing economy are still taking a toll on smaller businesses. The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Russell 2000’s aggregate profit declined 10% year-over-year in the second quarter, and the index’s component companies mostly offered disappointing guidance. 

The Fed's Interest-Rate Cut Lifts Magnificent 7 Stocks

Sto🦹cks are racing ahead today, with tech stocks out in f𓂃ront. 

The S&P 500 is climbing Thursday, up about 1.9%. Its IT sector was recently up some 3.6%, while the communications services sector—home to companies like Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META), Netflix (NFLX), and Alphabet (GOOGL)—and the consumer discretionary sector, which includes Tesla (TSLA) and Airbnb (ABNB), were each up about 2.1%.

All of the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Magnificent Seven stocks—Meta, Alphabet, and Tesla, as well as Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), and Apple (AAPL)—were recently in the green, led by Tesla and Nvidia. The PHLX Semiconductoꩵr Index was up close to 5%.

Not all of the benchmark S&P 500 was rising. Staples, utilities, and real estate stocks were recently in the ꦅred. The blue-chip Dow industrials also rose, though a third of its🎀 components were recently in retreat.

-澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:David Marino-Nachison

Olive Garden�🐎� Owner Darden Jumps on Signs of Sales Rebound

Darden Restaurants (DRI) shares surged Thursday after the Olive Garden owner reported improving sales trends after a decline in July and announced a new delivery pilot with Uber (UBER).

The company reported fiscal first-quarter revenue rose year-over-year to $2.76 billion, thanks in part to a larger number of total restaurants. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Net income climbed year-over-year to ꦗ$207.2 million. Both slightly missed analysts' estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Darden affirmed its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:full-year projections including 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings per share (EPS) of $9.40 to $9.60, as CFO 𒅌Raj Vennam said the company has seen sales trends improve after a "significant step down" to foot traffic in July.

Darden also announced plans to pilot a delivery program with Uber starting late💧r this year. In select markets, customers who order from the Olive Garden app or website will be able to get it delivered by an Uber Eats driver.

Darde💛n shares jumped over 7.6% Th🐭ursday following the news and have gained about 4% since the start of the year.

-澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Aaron McDade

Where Markets Think Interest 🧜Rates Are Headed This Y💛ear

The Fed on Wednesday lowered its federal funds rate target range to between 4.75% and 5% from 5.25% to 5.5%. The cut 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:met investors’ expectations that the central bank would begin this rate-cutting cycle with aggressive action to bolster a cooling labor market; the market's perceived odds of a 50-point cut rose from just 14% a week ago to more than 60% earlier this week.ꦏ

And Wall Street took Wednesday’s policy pivot as a sign of more aggressive cuts to come. Traders on Thursday saw a 50% chance that the Fed will lower its federal funds rate target range by another 75 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:basis points to between 4% and 4.25% by the end of the year. With only two Fed meetings left—one in November and one in December—that implies another 50-point cut at one of those meetings.

The odds of even bigger cuts totaling a full percentage point were, as of 🌞Thursday morning, nearly 20%.

That put traders at odds with Fed officials, whose median forecast for the federal funds rate at the end of the year implies just two 25 basis-point cuts later this year. Only one member expects the next two cuts to match the market’s expectations. Two members don't expect to cut rates at all later this year.

With the S&amꦯp;P 500 at a Record High, Watch These Key Level🦩s

The S&P 500 jumped to an all-time high above 5,700 on Thursday morning as U.S. stocks rallied on the Federal Reserve's supersized rate cut yesterday.

Below, we’ll take a closer look at the S&P 500’s chart and use 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:technical analysis to point out key levels worth watching out for.

Since establishing a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:record high in mid-July, the S&P 500 has oscillated within an orderly 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:symmetrical triangle, a chart pattern formed by trend lines connecting a series of sequentially lower peaks and higher troughs, which typically precedes a breakout in price. 

Should Thursday's jump constitute that breakout, we can forecast an upside target by using the measuring principle, also known as the measured move technique. 

To do this, we calculate the distance of the symmetrical triangle near its widest point and apply that amount to the pattern’s to▨p trendline. For instance, here we add 650 to 5,650, which projects an upside target of 6,300.

To the downside, traders should keep an eye on 5,265. This location on the chart may provide support near a trendline that connects the March highs with comparable trading levels in May and e꧃ar📖ly August.

-澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Timothy Smith

U🎉.S. Stock Futures Pointꦛ to Big Gains After Fed Cuts Rates

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Ind𓃲ustrial Average were up 1.2% in premarket trading on Thursday.

S&P 500 futures advanced more than 1.6%.

Nasdaq 100 futures surged 2.2%.