Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at the potential slowdown in interest-rate increases this December – stocks surged

Stocks rebound on interest rate slowdown. Source: shutterstock.com

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 700 points higher on Wednesday, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite jumped 3.1% and 4.4%, respectively. This way, all three indexes ended November with a second consecutive month of gains.

The market rebound was stimulated by the signals that?Fed’s aggressive campaign against sky-high inflation may finally become milder. On?Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank was planning?to raise rates by a half percentage point at its December meeting. The long-expected change would follow a series of four consecutive 0.75-point rate rises.

Despite a recent boost, the US stock market is still down. Thus, the S&P 500 has declined 14% in 2022 so far and is heading towards its worst year since 2008. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has slumped 27% this year.

Investors are now anticipating inflation data due to be published on Dec. 13 for further clues about the regulation of interest rates.

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