Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise over 1% as Waller backs holding rates if inflation eases

All three major US indexes rallied on Thursday after Fed Governor Christopher Waller signalled that key interest rates may be kept steady if inflation cools.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.18% to settle at 53,686.11, while the S&P 500 surged 1.06% to 7,747.71. The NASDAQ Composite ended 1.40% higher at 26,584.06.

Stocks that closed in green include SpaceX (6.41%), Thomson Reuters (5.56%), Tesla (5.42%), PayPal (3.93%), Microsoft (2.67%), Walmart (2.19%), NVIDIA (1.8%), Alphabet Class A (1.59%) and Amazon (1.53%).

Meta shares rose 1% to $610.68 apiece after it released its latest AI model Muse Spark 1.3, which offers improved performance across agentic and coding tasks.

Dell Technologies shares saw an uptick of another 5% days after the company posted record revenue of $47 billion, up 58% year over year (YoY), in the fiscal 2027 second quarter. For FY27, revenue guidance stood at $192 billion, up 69% YoY.

"IT environment have shifted from cost centres to value drivers that fuel growth and competitive advantage, and customers are investing accordingly – creating opportunity across our portfolio,” said Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer, Dell Technologies.

Federal Reserve Governor Waller said that he would back holding the rate cut target steady if the inflation figures continue to move more towards the central bank's 2% goal.

"If this continues in the data due over the next two weeks, I would be inclined to support holding the target for the federal funds rate at its current setting," Waller was quoted as saying at a Reuters event.

Oil prices continued to remain elevated. Brent Crude, the international benchmark, surged 0.65% to $96.14 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.83% to $92.06 a barrel.

Taking to Truth Social, Trump on Wednesday suggested remaining the Strait of Hormuz to "Trump Strait".

"Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be “hotter” than ever before!" he said.