Investors interpreted comments by Mr. Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, as an indication that the central bank may be less inclined to continue raising interest rates.
Stocks rose Wednesday afternoon after investors took comments by the Federal Reserve chairman to mean that the central bank could be closer than expected to ending its current push to lift interest rates.
But investors, who have worried that rising interest rates could dampen economic growth, may be reading too much into the comments by Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chairman. Although policymakers are indeed near the end of the rate-increase cycle, the focus is on how quickly the end will come.
