Finance

Despite a mid-week selloff, major indexes finished higher on Thursday, with the S&P 500 rising 1.1% to reach 7,500.58 and the Nasdaq jumping 1.9%. The rally was primarily driven by a surge in the chip sector, including a notable partnership between Intel and Apple, alongside investor optimism following a ceasefire memorandum between the U.S. and Iran.

In his debut meeting as Federal Reserve Chair, Kevin Warsh led the FOMC to hold interest rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75% while signaling a potential quarter-point hike by the end of 2026. Policymakers marked up their inflation outlook for the year to 3.6%, prompting traders to increase bets on a further tightening of monetary policy by September.

The 10-year Treasury yield stabilized around 4.45% to 4.46% as the market digested the Federal Reserve's recent policy statement. Although yields initially spiked after officials hinted at future rate increases, they partly recovered their losses by the end of the trading week as lower energy prices helped temper immediate inflation fears.