But as the Fed starts its latest two-day meeting, the focus has shifted. High interest rates are no longer the main fear. Rather, investors are worried about slowing growth and trade disruptions from President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which briefly pushed the S&P 500 Index into a correction last week. While the Fed still has the stock market’s undivided attention, what Wall Street wants to hear from Powell now is his read on the economy — and how the Fed can stay nimble in the face of a slowdown.
This isn’t the Fed’s stock market anymore.
For years, Federal Reserve meetings have been the main event on Wall Street as the central bank fought to contain runaway inflation. Traders carefully parsed the wording of each interest rate statement, the positioning of the dot plot, and Chair Jerome Powell’s comments in his post-meeting press conference, while portfolio managers sized up how to play the market based on this new guidance.
