Wall Street hit new record highs on Thursday, boosted by better-than-expected corporate results and the promise, albeit distant, of a possible Fed rate cut.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones index gained 0.3% to 40,041.6 points, breaking the 40,000-point barrier for the first time in its history, less than four years after surpassing the 30,000 threshold.000 mark.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3% to 16,792.5 points, after hitting a new all-time high of 16,793.9 points.

US equity markets had already set new all-time highs yesterday following reassuring inflation figures, which reinforced the scenario of a rate cut as early as September.

With their minds at rest about the Fed's policy evolution, investors were able to focus today on the good results of several heavyweights.

With a gain of 6%, Walmart was the main contributor to the Dow Jones' rise after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.

But the upward movement remains mainly fuelled by technology stocks and the sector's usual powerhouses, such as AMD, despite Cisco's freshly-received results (-2%).

The market is also buoyed by the continuing recovery in oil prices, which is supporting the energy sector.

Investors, on the other hand, did not react much to the better-than-expected indicators published this morning, judging that they are unlikely to jeopardize the scenario of a rate cut in September.

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