Powell Sends Dovish-Leaning Message On Dual Mandate, Financial Conditions

Initial reaction is that Chair Powell's prepared text leans dovish vs expectations. When this is chosen as the first line of your speech as a Fed chair, you're probably not trying to send a particularly hawkish message:

• "Incoming data over recent months show ongoing progress toward both of our dual mandate goals—maximum employment and stable prices." (Compare that with a typical press conference Powell opener about how the FOMC is aware of the need to restore price stability).

The following is the message that others on the FOMC have been putting forward in recent weeks, and between that and the "ongoing progress" Powell mentions, the pretext is that there is no urgency to hike rates:

• "Financial conditions have tightened significantly in recent months, and longer-term bond yields have been an important driving factor in this tightening. We remain attentive to these developments because persistent changes in financial conditions can have implications for the path of monetary policy."

The dovish market reaction is unsurprising and appropriate - though the Q&A bears watching for any nuance to this message.