The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that stocks ended higher on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point and investors bet on further easing down the road, even as the central bank signalled that it will put further cuts on pause. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says Canada's main index closed at a fresh record high, tracking the advance on Wall Street. The U.S. central bank said that before its next policy change it would look ahead for clearer signals about the direction of the job market and inflation that "remains somewhat elevated." But projections after the Fed's two-day meeting showed median expectations for another quarter-point cut in 2026, in line with expectations at the September meeting. And policy-makers raised estimates for 2026 GDP growth to 2.3 per cent from 1.8 per cent and maintained expectations for a 4.4-per-cent unemployment rate at the end of next year. In his press conference, Fed chair Jerome Powell declined to provide guidance on whether there will be another rate cut in the near future. The S&P 500 closed up 0.67 per cent and the S&P/TSX Composite 0.79 per cent. Bond yields fell in both the U.S. and Canada.