Wednesday, July 27, 2022

US Market Wrap 07/27/2022

- Stocks rose and bond yields fell after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the Fed will slow the pace of rate increases at some point, but that officials will refrain from providing "clear guidance" on the size of their next move.


- About 85% of the S&P 500 companies rose, while the Nasdaq 100 rose more than 4%, boosted by solid earnings from tech titans. Two-year US yields, which are more sensitive to upcoming Fed moves, fell as much as ten basis points. Expectations for the Fed's rate of hikes have slowed, with swap markets pricing in around 58 basis points of tightening for September. The dollar dropped.


- The Fed's chairman denied that the US economy is in recession and stated that the central bank is acting "expeditiously" in dealing with price pressures. Powell also stated that another unusually large increase in rates would be dependent on data after officials raised rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, bringing the total increase from June to July to 150 basis points, the steepest since the early 1980s.