Michelangelo Buonarroti Creation of Adam painting

Michelangelo Buonarroti Creation of Adam painting
Thomas Kinkade The Rose Garden painting
Wednesday. An interest-rate cut is bullish for stocks because it lowers borrowing costs and spurs economic activity. The Nasdaq Composite Index surged 324.83 points, or 14.17 percent, to end at 2,616.69, its largest gain in both point and percentage terms since the market was founded in 1971. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average climbed 299.60 points, or 2.81 percent, to 10,945.75, its eighth- largest point gain ever and its strongest close in two months. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 64.29 points to 1,347.56, for a gain of 5.01 percent. The Fed action came only a day after the market got off to a dismal start for the New Year when tech stocks plummeted 7 percent. The selloff had followed Nasdaq's weakest yearly performance ever -- down nearly 40 percent in 2000.