Markets perk up after Fed teases rate cut

Global stock markets mostly rose Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the U.S. central bank is ready to cut interest rates for the first time in a decade. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both saw increases early Thursday after Powell told the House Financial Services Committee in his semi-annual report Wednesday that concerns about a weakening global economy and rising trade tensions have strengthened the case for a rate decrease. The U.S. stock market rallied through much of June after the Fed first signaled that it might tinker with interest rates if necessary to shore up the U.S. economy.