World stock markets hit record high

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose as high as 981.65, topping the previous session’s record

World stock markets reached a new high on Thursday, while the U.S. dollar rose against major peers on news that fewer Americans filed new applications for unemployment benefits last week.

The pound slipped slightly after the Bank of England (BoE) kept rates unchanged.

U.S. benchmarks – S&P 500, the Dow and the Nasdaq all posted record closing highs. Intel climbed more than 22% after Nvidia said it would invest $5 billion in the struggling chipmaker. Nvidia’s shares closed up 3.5% on the day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.27% to 46,142.42, the S&P 500 jumped 0.48% to 6,631.96 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.94% to 22,470.73.

The small-cap Russell 2000 index rose and hit an intraday record high for the first time since November.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index advanced 0.8%. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose as high as 981.65, topping the previous session’s record. It was last up 0.29% at 979.18.

In the U.S, the central bank cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday and its closely watched “dot plot” had pointed to two more rate cuts over its remaining two meetings this year, but only one additional reduction in 2026.

The market is getting a little priced for perfection, and some of the job erosion is a little unsettling, which is what I think probably led Jerome Powell to make his cut yesterday and sort of say he’s going to continue to be data dependent, Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New Orleans, U.S.

The economy in general, between the eroding job numbers and inflation, has kind of stabilized – although you can never fight the central bank and falling rates, which is what I think got the market popping today with a little follow-through, Villere said.