Markets fall on disappointment with Powell

Markets fell on Thursday.

The S&P 500 fell 1.3 percent, the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.4 percent and the Nikkei 225 plunged 2.1 percent.

Markets fell amid renewed concerns over higher interest rates after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told a Wall Street Journal conference on Thursday that he expects some inflationary pressures in the time ahead.

“We expect that as the economy reopens and hopefully picks up, we will see inflation move up through base effects,” said Powell.

Powell also said that any increase in inflation will be “transitory” and that “I expect that we will be patient”.

However, Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said that Powell “failed to provide the type of reassuring comments investors were hoping for”.

“With long rates rising in response to his commentary, we are again seeing a market that is taking control of monetary policy from the Fed,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group.