Overview

• The Federal Reserve lowered its policy rate by 25 basis points to a 4.00%–4.25% target range in a near‑unanimous vote, with new governor Stephen Miran dissenting in favor of a larger half‑point move.
• The Fed’s median projections point to two additional quarter‑point cuts in 2025, while Chair Jerome Powell emphasized that the path of easing remains contingent on inflation and labor‑market readings.
• U.S. stocks set fresh records Thursday and again Friday, with the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at new highs as the 10‑year Treasury yield hovered near 4.12%–4.13%.
• In Europe, the CAC 40 rose 0.87% on Thursday before finishing flat Friday as investors digested central‑bank signals, with the euro easing and core sovereign yields edging higher.
• Semiconductor shares rallied after Nvidia disclosed a roughly $5 billion stake in Intel, sending Intel sharply higher on Thursday and lifting peers in the U.S. and Europe before Intel later trimmed gains.