New York • U.S. stocks rocketed to their biggest gain in eight months Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that the Fed might not raise interest rates much further. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 617 points.
In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Powell said that rates are close to "neutral," the level at which they neither hold back growth nor aid it. That might mean the Fed isn't planning to raise interest rates far above their current levels. Powell also appeared to suggest that the Fed might pause its cycle of interest rate increases next year so the central bank can assess the effects of its actions.