Index Pops to All-Time High After Jumbo Rate Cut

Major U.S. equities indexes tore higher a day after the Federal Reserve announced a half-percentage-point reduction in its benchmark interest rate.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.7% on Thursday, while the Dow added 1.3%. The post-Fed gains lifted the benchmark index and its blue-chip counterpart to record-high closes. Outperformance from the tech sector after the rate-cut announcement helped the Nasdaq surge 2.5% higher.

The top performance in the S&P 500 came from shares of Darden Restaurants (DRI), which soared 8.3% on Thursday. The operator of Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and other full-service restaurant chains reported 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.

Since many car buyers rely on financing to purchase a vehicle, stocks of companies in the automobile industry tend to be sensitive to interest-rate changes. The high rate environment weighed particularly on the affordability of electric vehicles (EVs), which typically come with steeper price tags than internal combustion options. Following yesterday’s Fed’s aggressive rate cut, Tesla (TSLA) shares jumped 7.4%. In other positive news, 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. The firm said Quanta has a strong position in the electric and gas utilities, renewable energy, and other energy sectors. That leads analysts to believe Quanta is poised to benefit from numerous trends, such as meeting the power demand from data centers, transitioning to alternative energy sources, and mitigating climate risk.

Deckers Outdoor (DECK), parent company of the Ugg and Hoka footwear brands, announced a six-for-one stock split at its annual meeting earlier this month, and the split-adjusted shares began trading this Tuesday. The stock has been volatile since the split went into effect, and a decline of 3.3% made Deckers Outdoor the weakest-performing stock in the S&P 500 on Thursday.

Shares of Ventas (VTR), a 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.