Fed Chairman Jerome Powell took the market ball away from Donald Trump. His comments did not derail the market's rally, but early Friday the market appeared poised for a pause.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 10 points, or less than 0.1%.
As most markets expected, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at record highs after the Federal Open Market Committee opted to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Powell declined to comment on policies proposed by President-elect Donald Trump, other than to say he would not resign if asked.
“Chairman Powell declined to send any signals about the December meeting, emphasizing that the data was not yet available by then. However, Deutsche Bank analyst Henry Allen said in a research note that “the economy remains The overall tone was slightly more hawkish compared to the previous meeting in September, with Chairman Powell noting that recent data showed “reduced downside risks.”
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was 4.328% early Friday, down from a day earlier. The move appears to be part of an overall backlash in trading related to Trump's victory in this week's U.S. presidential election.
“This correction comes after a long period of rising yields as expectations of a President Trump victory rise, but we are now moving from pricing in promises to actually implementing policy. The outline and actual timeline here will change.''The picture will become clearer in the coming months before rates are likely to rise again,'' said Benjamin Schroeder, an analyst at ING. I mentioned it in my research note.
The Chinese government announced at a press conference on Friday that it would raise the local government debt limit by 6 trillion yuan ($840 billion) to cover existing hidden debt, according to Xinhua news agency.
