The US equities markets rallied sharply today, primarily off the tailwind of a surprisingly strong jobs report and surprisingly dovish comments from FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell. With respect to Powell, it appears the FOMC has decided to take a more patient approach to raising interest rates. Powell spoke in a roundtable event with former FOMC chairs Yellen and Bernanke, and the markets clearly interpreted his comments to suggest the FOMC now feels they might need to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes. Meanwhile, unemployment came in at 3.90% against a 3.70% consensus, private payrolls at 301K vs 175K consensus, and nonfarm payrolls came in at 312K vs 178K consensus. Also, October and November numbers were both revised substantially higher. Here’s a recap of what happened.
