After eight consecutive green closes for the S&P 500 and nine for the Nasdaq 100, the U.S. stock market’s impressive winning streak, the longest in two years, came to an end.

This setback was prompted by an unexpected hawkish intervention from Jerome Powell during a policy discussion hosted by the International Monetary Fund. The Fed Chair stated that despite progress on the inflation front, there is still a substantial distance to cover to achieve the 2% target.

Thursday’s session on Wall Street session had commenced with uncertainty, following remarks by another Fed speaker, Richmond Fed’s Thomas Barkin, who hinted at the necessity of an economic slowdown to win the war against inflation.

Investors revised rate probabilities for 2024, pushing forward the beginning of the Fed’s policy shift from May to June and lowering the cumulative extent of rate cuts next year.

Chart of The Day: Fed Chair Powell’s Speech Triggers Market Turbulence

Markets At The Closing Bell:

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