S&P 500 Holds Gains as Fed Bets Steady on Powell: Markets Wrap
- Powell flags risks to jobs while avoiding rate-cut timing
- Short-term Treasuries outperform after Fed chief testimony
Stocks closed at all-time highs, with Jerome Powell’s remarks to Congress doing little to alter bets the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates this year.
Financial shares the led gains on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 up for a sixth straight session — its longest winning run since January. Shorter-term Treasuries outperformed on bets they would more likely benefit from policy easing. Powell was careful not to offer a timeline for rate cuts. However, he emphasized mounting signs of a cooling job market after government data showed a third straight month of rising unemployment.