After a week of extraordinary turbulence, stocks are likely to remain volatile as investors await fresh data on inflation and watch the course of bond yields.
Jerome Powell is the most important speaker, when he appears at a Wall Street Journal summit Thursday. If he wants to stop this rise in rates, he does have to say something. But he risks sounding hawkish. The more dovish he sounds, the higher rates will go, said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. When the Fed is described as dovish, it means it is maintaining easy policy, such as keeping interest rates at low levels.
Some Fed watchers doubt the central bank will comment on the rise in yields any more than Powell did this past week when he said the move was the result of a strengthening economy. But bond pros say Powell could reinforce that Fed policy will remain easy for a long time to come.