Indices retreat after hawkish comments from the Fed Chair
Powell's initial comments sounded dovish as he reassured markets that the disinflationary process has begun, particularly in the goods sector, while saying that the Fed has the tools to bring down inflation to its 2% target. At the same time, when asked about the strong January jobs report, Powell's comments did not suggest that it would change the central bank's approach to future rate increases. However, moods worsened sharply after the FED Chair warned that if robust labor data persists, the terminal level of the Fed funds may be higher. As a result, the stock indices quickly erased earlier gains and the EURUSD fell below 1.0700.
US100 rose over 1.5% at the beginning of Powell's speech, however moods quickly deteriorated nad index pulled back to session lows. Source: xStation5