FTSE lower on Powell rhetoric

Every time the market seems to get its hopes up that the Federal Reserve will pivot away from rate hikes, its chair Jerome Powell emerges to dash those expectations.

AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said:  “To be fair to Powell he has remained consistent in his messaging. But it is proving difficult for investors, who are used to more than a decade of supportive central bank policy, to believe in his tough talk.

“The FTSE 100 is appreciably lower on Thursday morning as the Bank of England gets set for its own rate hike.

“However, the scale of the fall on the FTSE is less than that seen on Wall Street overnight as the index’s collection of high dividend-paying, relatively lowly valued, old world economy stocks is less vulnerable to higher rate expectations.”