Finance

Heavyweight stocks led a broad market advance as Alphabet shares soared 10% on a major earnings beat and positive outlook for artificial intelligence. Similarly, industrial giant Caterpillar jumped roughly 10% after reporting strong quarterly results, providing a significant boost to the Dow Jones Industrial Average even as other tech giants faced scrutiny over high infrastructure spending.

The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate between 3.5% and 3.75% during Chair Jerome Powell's final scheduled meeting. While the decision was unanimous, the committee showed growing internal tension with four total dissents, reflecting divided opinions on how to balance resilient economic growth with inflation that remains above the central bank's target.

The 10-year Treasury yield hovered around 4.4% as fresh data showed the PCE price index rose 3.5% year-over-year in March, marking its largest increase in nearly three years. Although yields cooled slightly from recent peaks, the persistent strength of the U.S. economy and elevated energy costs have caused traders to reduce expectations for interest rate cuts in the near term.