Wall Street’s main indices opened flat on Wednesday as traders assessed Powell’s cautious remarks on inflation and rate cuts.

In the early hours of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 76.2 points, or 0.16%, to 46,368.94. S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab rose 12.9 points, or 0.19%, to 6,669.79, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab rose 82.5 points, or 0.37%, to 22,656.015.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the US economy is facing a tough situation, with both inflation possibly rising and the job market slowing down. He explained that, right now, interest rates are in a good place to handle either of these issues, so there is no immediate need to lower them aggressively.

Powell mentioned that the risk of higher unemployment is

See Full Page