Stocks rose on a rally that reflected growing bets the Federal Reserve will trim interest rates later this year, helping lift U.S. equities after a global bid for risk assets. The S&P 500 edged up 0.3% to 6,466.58, its latest high, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 463.66 points (about 1%) to 44,922.27. The Nasdaq Composite added 31.24 points to 21,713.14, brushing against its record after a prior day’s strength.
Bond markets followed suit, with 10-year Treasury yields easing to 4.23% from 4.29% late Tuesday and well below mid-July levels around 4.50%. The pullback in yields echoed a broad expectation that the Fed will begin easing rates at its September meeting, a move that would make borrowing cheaper for households and businesses and potentially lift asset prices further, though it could intensify inflation pressures if it occurs too soon.
Global markets joined the U.S. bounce. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.6%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.3%, and South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.1%. Europe’s bourses also advanced, with Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 each up about 0.7%.
Among individual stock moves, shares of homebuilders led the upside on expectations of rate relief: PulteGroup rose 5.4% and Lennar gained 5.2%. Brinker International, the operator of Chili’s, rose 1.6% after reporting stronger quarterly results and improved restaurant traffic, with the company highlighting higher profit per dollar of sales.
HanesBrands surged 3.7% after agreeing to sell itself to Gildan Activewear for $2.2 billion in cash and stock, a deal that would combine HanesBrands with Canada’s Gildan; Gildan’s U.S.-listed stock climbed about 11.8% on the news. Also debuting with a bang, Bullish, a cryptocurrency exchange, soared about 83.8% on its first day of trading.
On the downside, grocery and delivery stocks traded lower after Amazon announced expanded fresh grocery delivery to more than 1,000 cities; Kroger fell about 4.4% and DoorDash declined roughly 3.8%, though Amazon rose about 1.4% on the session. Cava Group dropped 16.6% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter and trimming its 2025 outlook for a key restaurant-sales metric. CoreWeave fell about 20.8% following a larger-than-expected quarterly loss; the cloud-computing firm serves customers running AI workloads.
Market breadth remained supportive overall. The main U.S. stock indices have benefited as investors bet that rate cuts could come sooner rather than later, a view that has helped to offset concerns that the market has become too expensive after a strong run from its April lows.
Investors also faced earnings and inflation dynamics. The market has been weighing a long run of solid corporate results against a backdrop of higher rates that have persisted longer than some expected. Inflation data remain in focus; a report due Thursday on wholesale prices is projected to show a modest uptick to around 2.4% in July from 2.3% in June, a figure that could influence the timing and pace of any rate moves.
What to watch next: economists will be closely parsing the wholesale inflation read and any commentary from Fed officials for clues on whether June-to-September rate-cut timing remains in play. Political and tariff-related factors surrounding the Fed’s policy stance also linger, including public commentary on rate moves from political figures.
Overall, the market mood reflected a hopeful tilt toward easier financial conditions, supported by expected rate relief and a continuing backdrop of strong demand in several consumer and housing-related sectors. If inflation cools more than anticipated and business activity remains resilient, the path toward higher equities could stay intact. But a hotter-than-expected inflation print or a shift in Fed rhetoric could dampen the rally and push yields higher again.