One of Powell's Words Gives Wall Street a Lift

Markets rise after Fed chief says bank will proceed 'carefully' on rate hikes
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 25, 2023 3:12 PM CDT
One of Powell's Words Gives Wall Street a Lift
Specialist Peter Giacchi works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Wall Street cruised to its first winning week in the last four after the head of the Federal Reserve said that while it may not be done raising rates, it will "proceed carefully" before its next move.

  • The Dow rose 247 points, or 0.7%, to 34,346.
  • The S&P 500 rose 29 points, or 0.6%, to 4,405.
  • The Nasdaq rose 126 points, or 0.9%, to 13,590.

One word of Powell's stood out in particular to Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management, per the AP. "'Carefully' is the new 'forcefully,'" Jacobsen said. "Last year, Powell said the Fed would respond forcefully, and they sure did. Now they can tread carefully. Any adjustments to rates now will be more like fine tuning." Of note Friday, Gap rose 6.5% after the retailer reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue fell just shy of forecasts. Marvell Technology, another company that's been citing growth coming from artificial intelligence, fell 5.7% following its profit report. Its results were a touch higher than analysts expected, and its stock had already rallied nearly 55% coming into the day.

(More stock market stories.)

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