Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500 close at record highs, Nasdaq surges amid rate cut euphoria

Stocks rallied as investors took a closer look at the Fed 's decision to kick-start its new rate cycle with a 50 basis point cut.

Rate-sensitive growth stocks climbed, with Big Tech megacaps that fueled this year 's rally making gains.

BMO Capital Markets chief investment strategist Brian Belski raised his year-end S&P 500 target to 6,100 from 5,600 .

Consumer packaged goods stocks have historically benefited in the first 90 days following first soft-landing rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 600 points to trade above the 42,000 level for the first time as a broader market rally hit session highs on the back of a jumbo Fed rate cut.

Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ) surged more than 6% Thursday , lifting cryptocurrencies along with other risk assets.

Goldman Sachs (GS), Capital One ( COF ), and Citigroup (C) each rose more than 3% Thursday morning , followed by smaller rises for Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America ( BAC ), JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ), and Morgan Stanley (MS) Existing home sales dropped 2.5% from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.86 million , the National Association of Realtors said.