Stocks jumped Thursday morning as investors cheered the Federal Reserve’s eye-popping half-point interest rate cut.

The biggest gains, however, tend to come after the Fed begins cutting rates following a stock market panic. Following the first Fed rate cut in March 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, the S&P 500 was up over 27% in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, following the rate cut after the Sept. 11, 2001, market crash, the S&P was nearly 21% higher a year later.

Wall Street's major market averages rose sharply on Thursday, with the S&P 500 (SP500) opening at an all-time trading high as it crossed above 5,700. Moreover, the bluechip Dow (DJI) also notched a new record high as it crossed above 42K.

Good news for those building up their 401(k)s: the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at record highs after the Fed's rate cuts.

The rally was a delayed yet emphatic response to the central bank’s decision Wednesday to cut interest rates by a half percentage point that pushed the S&P 500 to its first reco

The S&P 500 surged to a record high close on Thursday, the day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points and indicated more rate cuts were on the horizon. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average also registered a record closing high,

The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 surged to all-time highs in the wake of the Federal Reserve's announcement that it was lowering interest rates by half a percentage point.

Wall Street romped to records as a delayed jubilation swept markets worldwide following the Federal Reserve's big cut to interest rates.

With the stock market's surge on Thursday to fresh records, something extra has been taking hold of equities in the wake of the Federal Reserve's big rate cut. The "Magnificent Seven" mega-cap technology stocks,