NEW YORK —
“The Fed is between a rock and a hard place, and because of instant information investors are experiencing both fear and greed at the exact same moment,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “Investors realized that by the Fed continuing to take a very measured approach, it could actually allow inflation to remain out of control,” Stovall said.
When Powell said the Fed wasn’t considering a mammoth increase in short-term rates, that sent a signal to investors to send stock prices soaring and bond yields tumbling. A slower pace of interest-rate hikes would mean less risk of the economy tipping into recession, as well as less downward pressure on prices for all kinds of investments.
The Bank of England on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest level in 13 years, its fourth rate hike since December as U.K. inflation runs at 30-year highs.