The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit record highs in early trading as the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision looms

The U.S. stock market continued its post-election rally early Thursday, with major indexes hitting new all-time highs as investors await a rate decision from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% and 1.1%, respectively, both trading at record highs about half an hour after the opening bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%. Major indexes posted their best one-day performances since 2022 on Wednesday following Donald Trump's decisive victory in the presidential election.

Investors' attention today will be focused on the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point. The decision is scheduled to be announced at 2 p.m. ET, following the Fed's two-day policy meeting.

Investors will closely examine the Fed's policy statement and Chairman Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference for insight into the central bank's views on the health of the economy and what it means for future interest rate decisions. The Fed cut interest rates in September for the first time in four years and said it would continue to do so, but stressed that its decisions would depend on economic data.

Among notable stocks on the rise, shares of Qualcomm (QCOM) rose more than 3% after the chipmaker reporter's quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations and announced a $15 billion share buyback. Arm Holdings (ARM) shares rose nearly 4%, recovering from earlier losses, after the chip developer reported better-than-expected earnings but issued a disappointing revenue outlook.

Shares of Zillow (Z) rose 22% after the real estate company reported strong third-quarter revenue growth, while shares of Lyft (LYFT) rose 28% after the ride-hailing company reported better-than-expected results and raised its outlook. Shares of AppLovin (APP) rose nearly 50% after the software maker's third-quarter earnings and fourth-quarter outlook both beat expectations.

Large-cap technology stocks rose across the board, with Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) all gaining ground. Tesla (TSLA) rose 1.5% after rising 15% yesterday amid optimism about what a Trump presidency could mean for the electric vehicle maker given CEO Elon Musk's ties to the president-elect.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which has risen in recent weeks as investors have tempered expectations of the Fed's aggressive rate cuts, is at 4.37%, down from 4.43% on Wednesday, when it was at its highest since the beginning reached early July.

Gold futures rose nearly 1% to about $2,700 an ounce, after falling 3% yesterday as the U.S. dollar strengthened following the election results. Bitcoin was trading at around $75,000 after hitting record highs above $76,000 on Wednesday.