Stock Market Today: Stocks Rally After Fed’s Powell Testimony In Senate; Nvidia Cracks 900 As Tesla Battles ‘Possible Loss’

The Dow Jones and other major indexes continued to hold most of their early gains in late afternoon trades Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified for a second day before Congress. Nvidia (NVDA) cleared a new benchmark, and Tesla (TSLA) fought profit concerns on the stock market today. Retail and software earnings also moved stocks.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average headed into a second-straight winning session, trading 0.2% higher. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%. Among the 11 sectors in the benchmark index, real estate and financials lagged while others gained ground.

But it was the Nasdaq that continued to lead the way, as the tech-heavy index scaled 1.4% higher. Small caps also were on the rise, as the Russell 2000 moved up 0.8%.

Volume on both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq was lower compared with the same time on Wednesday. Breadth continued to be encouraging, however, as advancers beat decliners by more than 2-to-1 on the NYSE and nearly 5-to-3 on the Nasdaq.

Among exchange traded funds, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) added 0.7%. And the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was unchanged at 4.10%.

Also, bitcoin rose and continued to hold above $67,000, according to CoinMarketCap.

Stock Market Today: Powell Gives An Encore

On Thursday, Powell addressed the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and mentioned the need for new rules to address crises such as the bank run of 2023. The Fed chief also indicated he was surprised by two events as rates rose. The first was the effect of failing institutions such as Silicon Valley Bank.

“We were aware of it, but we probably didn’t appreciate it enough,” he said. He added the other surprise came via the quick fall in inflation.

“It’s not consistent with the historical record, but it’s a really positive thing,” he said.

Powell’s appearance came a day after he told a House panel that he expected rate cuts later this year but that it was too soon to implement…