NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stock markets soared late Thursday after the Federal Reserve, in a surprise move, lowered the two key interest rates it controls.
The Dow Jones industrial average rallied 330.58 points, or 4.2 percent, to 8,299.36, its third-largest one-day point gain in history. Advances trounced declines 2,473 to 667 as volume on the New York Stock Exchange reached 933 million shares.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 70.08, or 4.6 percent, to 1,611.05, its fourth-biggest one-day point gain. The S&P 500 index rose 41.96, or 4.2 percent, to 1,047.49, its third- largest single-session point advance.
Bonds also climbed sharply while the dollar fell. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond roared 1-10/32 points in price, lowering the yield to 4.94 percent.
In a highly unusual move, the Federal Reserve issued a press release late Thursday, announcing that it was cutting the Federal funds rate by 1/4 of a percentage point to 5 percent from 5.25 percent, and the discount rate by 1/4 of a percentage point to 4.75 percent from 5 percent.
The Fed rarely takes monetary policy action in between scheduled meetings of its policy making Federal Open Market Committee. The FOMC, whose last meeting on Sept. 29 resulted in a 1/4 percentage point cut in the Fed funds rate, is not scheduled to meet until Nov. 17. Thursday's action marks the first time the Fed has acted on interest rates between FOMC meetings since April 1994. 
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