Indexes rallied Thursday, with tech stocks leading the Nasdaq to rise 2.5% as investors continued to digest Wednesday's jumbo rate cut from the Fed.

U.S. equity futures powered firmly higher in early Thursday trading, putting the S&P 500 on pace for a fresh record high, following a big rate cut from the Federal Reserve and forecasts that suggest a soft landing for the world's biggest economy.

U.S. stocks rose after the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points to a range of 4.75% to 5%. That was the first rate cut in over four years that marked the beginning of a monetary-easing cycle in the world's largest economy.

Fed goes big with half-point rate cut. However, Wednesday's main event was the conclusion of the Fed meeting, where the central bank issued its first rate cut in four years, lower