Nov 28, 2018 - Economy

What they're saying: Wall Street may be overreacting to Fed chair's speech

Courtenay Brown

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 28: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at the Economic Club of New York on November 28, 2018 in New York City. — Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday in New York City. Photo: Spencer Platt via Getty Images

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 618 points on Wednesday, its best one-day gain since March (per CNBC), while both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite rose over 2% following a highly anticipated speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in New York.

The big picture: There's no single reason for markets' surge, but some market-watchers say investors misinterpreted Powell's comment that interest rates were "just below" the neutral level to mean fewer interest rate hikes were on the horizon.

What they're saying:

Jared Bernstein, who served as chief economist under Vice President Joe Biden:

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics:

Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global:

Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, tweeted, in part that it was "not correct" that markets saw Powell's comments has a signal that the Fed will no longer hike interest rates after December.

The other side:

Joe LaVorgna, chief economist for the Americas at Natixis:

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What they're saying: Wall Street may be overreacting to Fed chair's speech

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