Powell's words are mightier than the Fed's dot plot

The Federal Reserve's dot plot was supposed to be the main event at Wednesday's central bank data dump, and true to expectations — it revealed an upward drift in policymakers' interest rate expectations over the medium and longer-term.

- JUNAITIAN LLVIN

But the market's interest in "the dots" lasted all of 45 minutes, and ultimately it was Fed Chair Jerome Powell who stole the show by downplaying recent inflation data and suggesting that the encouraging disinflation story remains intact.

Here is Mr Powell's response to The Wall Street Journal's Nick Timiraos following the Fed's widely expected decision to keep rates steady at 5.25-5.5 per cent: "[The two recent months of inflation data] haven't really changed the overall story, which is that of inflation moving down gradually on a sometimes bumpy road toward 2 per cent. I don't think that story has changed. I also don't think that those readings added to anyone's confidence that we're moving closer to that point."

Even with the caveat at the end, traders heard enough to set the S&P 500 Index on its way to an all-time high.