Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Futures Jump Following Fed Rate Cut—Broadcom, Cracker Barrel, FedEx In Focus - SPDR S&P 500 (ARCA:SPY)

Economic Indicators - U.S. housing starts decreased by 8.5% month-over-month to an annual rate of 1.307 million units in August, missing market estimates of 1.37 million [5] - Building permits also fell by 3.7% to an annualized rate of 1.312 million in August [5] Stock Market Performance - Major U.S. stock indices showed mixed results, with the Dow Jones up 0.57% to 46,018.32, while the S&P 500 fell 0.097% to 6,600.35 and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.33% to 22,261.33 [6][7] - Futures for major indices were higher, with Dow Jones up 0.75%, S&P 500 up 0.89%, Nasdaq 100 up 1.06%, and Russell 2000 up 1.50% [2] Company Earnings - General Mills Inc. reported fiscal 2026 first-quarter results slightly above Wall Street expectations [4] - Manchester United PLC shares fell over 6% after reporting mixed fourth-quarter financial results [4] - Darden Restaurants Inc. rose 1.03% in premarket trading ahead of its earnings report, with analysts estimating earnings of $2.00 per share on revenue of $3.04 billion [18] - FactSet Research Systems Inc. was up 1.15% as analysts expect earnings of $4.13 per share on revenue of $593.45 million [18] - FedEx Corp. was up 0.12% ahead of its earnings report, with estimates of $3.62 per share on revenue of $21.67 billion [18] Market Sentiment and Projections - Analysts suggest that the S&P 500 could see substantial growth in the second year of the Federal Reserve's monetary easing, with historical returns averaging over 16% [8][10] - The first year of the current rate-cutting cycle has already yielded a return of over 17%, surpassing the historical first-year average of 9.6% [10] - The Federal Reserve's projections indicate a modest decline in the federal funds rate to 3.4% by the end of 2026, suggesting a restrictive policy environment [13]