CNBC Daily Open: Powell’s speech was hawkish. Investors' mood was bullish - CNBC
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2022.
This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter.Despite whatever hawkishness there is in Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's words, it seems that markets — either in a fit of optimism or misled by confirmation bias — will always seize on the most dovish of his statements and run with them.That's what happened last week after Powell's press conference, when markets focused on his acknowledgement that a "disinflationary process has started."It appears the same thing occurred Tuesday after Powell's speech in Washington D.C.Markets dropped the previous day on January's jobs report; they expected Powell to reassert the importance of interest rate hikes on the back of such a strong labor market.