Powell Gave Stock Markets the Present it Wanted. It Could Giftwrap the Santa Claus Rally.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell may not be anyone’s idea of jolly, but he has still left something of a gift for Wall Street as Christmas approaches. Powell told reporters in Washington on Wednesday, following the Fed’s third consecutive rate cut since the summer, that the risks to its twin mandate of full employment and stable prices are largely in balance. In effect, he’s saying that the Fed isn’t going to get too involved in markets over the final months of his tenure as chair, which ends in May. Rate traders seem to agree: the earliest they’re pricing in a cut in 2026 is April, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch.