US equity indices finished at fresh records on Thursday following the Federal Reserve's first interest rate cut of 2025, while Intel surged on Nvidia's announcement it would take a stake in its rival.

All three major indices ended at fresh all-time records, with the S&P 500 up 0.5 percent at 6,631.

The Dow Jones climbed 0.3 percent to 26,142, while the Nasdaq jumped 0.9 percent to 22,470.

The Fed on Wednesday agreed to trim interest rates by 25 basis points in an effort to buttress a weakening employment market.

The US central bank signalled it could cut interest rates two more times in 2025, although those decisions will depend on how the world's largest economy evolves.

The move "was really a validation and confirmation that Fed officials are looking to move policy towards neutral, so the direction of travel for interest rates ... is going to be lower," said Angelo Kourkafas of Edward Jones.

"So far, growth is holding up, the economy is chugging along. And that restricts a bit... how much easing the Fed will deliver," he predicted.

Among individual companies, Intel shot up nearly 23 percent after Nvidia announced it would invest US$5 billion in its struggling rival. Nvidia rose 3.5 percent.

The move comes after US President Donald Trump's administration announced last month that the US government would take a 10 percent equity stake in Intel.

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike surged 12.8 percent as the company outlined its data protections for AI technology at a gathering in Las Vegas, leading some equity analysts to raise their price target on the equity. (AFP)