Stocks Rally on Hopes of Paused Rate Hikes and Strong Earnings Reports

Wall Street indexes rallied nearly 2% on hopes the Fed is done hiking rates and strong earnings reports.

The Dow rose 1.7%, the S&P 500 gained 1.89%, and the Nasdaq increased 1.78%.

Companies like Qualcomm, Starbucks, and PayPal reported better-than-expected results.

Traders are forecasting 7.2% earnings growth in Q4, down from 11% in October.

Jobless claims rose moderately last week ahead of Friday's October jobs report.