Wall Street leaps toward its best week of 2023 on hopes for rate hikes halt

NEW YORK - Wall Street roared higher again on Thursday with hopes the Federal Reserve may finally be done with its market-rattling hikes to interest rates.

The S&P 500 leaped 1.9% for its fourth straight winning day. It's already up 4.9% this week and on pace for its best week in nearly a year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 564 points, or 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.8%.

Stocks around the world rallied after the Federal Reserve opted against raising its main interest rate late Wednesday. It's already jacked up rates furiously since early last year in hopes of slowing the economy and hurting financial markets enough to starve high inflation of its fuel. More importantly for financial markets, investors also took comments by the Fed's chair to mean that recent jumps in longer-term Treasury yields were acting like rate-hike substitutes and could obviate the need for more increases by the Fed.

Longer-term Treasury yields fell as Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke following the central bank's decision, and they kept sinking Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 4.67% from 4.74% late Wednesday and from more than 5% last week, when it reached its highest level since 2007.

Lower yields provide oxygen across financial markets.

They make it easier for businesses and households to get loans, encourage investors to pay higher prices for stocks and reduce the pressure on the entire financial system. Of course, the recent drop in yields could end up shooting Wall Street in the foot. Powell said that a run higher in Treasury yields could displace the need for another rate hike if it is "persistent."

If the 10-year yield ends up falling too far, that could make the Federal Reserve more nervous and encourage more rate hikes.

"That was an interesting nuance, but I don't think it overrides the majority of his comments that suggested it's more likely than not that the Fed is done hiking," said Lon Erickson, portfolio manager at Thornburg Investment Management.

Hopes for no more Fed hikes had financial markets around the world ebullient.

Stock indexes jumped 1.8% in South Korea, 1.1% in Japan, 1.5% in Germany and 1.8% in France.

In London, the FTSE 100 climbed 1.4% after the Bank of England left its main interest alone, like the Fed.