Stocks rallied Thursday as investors looked ahead to more corporate earnings and a key labor report set for later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 322.37 points, or 0.85%, to close at 38,225.66. The S&P 500 gained 0.91% to settle at 5,064.20, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.51% to end at 15,840.96.
"We see markets breathing a sigh of relief after the Fed meeting was less hawkish than feared," said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. "The base case continues to be that rate cuts are delayed, but not necessarily derailed."
Chipmaker Qualcomm rose 9.7% on better-than-expected earnings and strong revenue guidance. Restaurant delivery service DoorDash dropped 10.3% after reporting a wider loss per share. Used car retailer Carvana soared 33.8% after reporting its best-ever earnings after the bell Wednesday, while Moderna surged 12.7% on a smaller-than-expected loss.
Megacap technology stocks rose as Treasury yields dipped, with Nvidia and Amazon jumping more than 3% each. Apple rose 2.2% ahead of its quarterly print after the bell.
Thursday's moves followed a choppy day on Wall Street as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday to keep interest rates unchanged, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell essentially ruled out an interest rate hike as the central bank's next move.
Traders are pricing in only a 14% chance of a cut in June, according to the latest futures market pricing based on the CME Group FedWatch Tool.
Investor attention now pivots toward Friday's April nonfarm payrolls report, with economists polled by Dow Jones expecting 240,000 job gains and a slowdown from 303,000 additions in March.
Wall Street will be on the lookout for signs of easing wage and price pressures amid concerns in recent weeks that the Fed may need to postpone its rate cut plans due to hot economic and labor market data, said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise.
"If we get a nonfarm payrolls report that shows employment is still solid, but below [last month's] figure, stocks are going to likely be in a good place," he said.
Earnings season presses on after the bell Thursday with quarterly reports from Apple and Amgen after the close. Coinbase and DraftKings are also on deck.