Investors Baffled After Powell Turbocharges Slide in US Rates

  • Franklin Templeton’s Sonal Desai is wary of conditions easing
  • AXA Investment’s Iggo says shifting market momentum is hard

Jerome Powell

Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg
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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confounded some on Wall Street this week by pouring lighter fluid over a market that was already betting on a pivot in monetary policy.

Bonds and share prices have surged since Powell on Wednesday let slip that policymakers had discussed interest-rate cuts, a signal that his remarks — whether he meant them to or not — have further loosened financial conditions.