11/14/23 Market Snapshot: Powell comments weighed on investors last week.

Comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell weighed on investors this week, but corporate earnings helped to keep the equity markets in positive territory. On Thursday, Chairman Powell stated the Fed was “not confident” they’ve reached a level of interest rates restrictive enough to bring inflation to their stated 2.0% target. This was followed by Friday’s release of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which was down for the fourth month in a row. A key standout from the survey was consumer’s expectations for long run inflation which was at 3.2%, the highest level since 2011.