The Dow Jones Industrial Average has shed about 700 points since Fed Chairman Jerome Powell left the door open to a possible fourth rate hike in 2018 during Tuesday’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee – his first Congressional testimony as Fed Chair.
Typically, investors tune out the second day of the Fed chair’s Congressional testimony, but today, investors will be listening closely for any clues about the number of rate hikes, while stock bulls hope Powell will say something to meaningfully walk back his comments from Tuesday.
That’s because on Tuesday, stocks spiraled lower after Powell intimated that he might be open to moving his dot higher as he told lawmakers that he’d become more optimistic about the outlook for growth, employment and inflation.
Stocks opened lower ahead of his remarks, suggesting that investors are bracing for the worst. Powell has said recently that he doesn’t think equity volatility would have much of an impact on the real economy, and thus isn’t really paying attention to it.
Watch Powell live:
Read his prepared remarks below:
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/2oG8w9O Tyler Durden