The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 experience their longest winning streak in two years to come to an end, due to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s market-cooling effect.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, both on impressive winning streaks, saw their streaks come to an end after eight consecutive green closes for the S&P 500 and nine for the Nasdaq 100. This setback was caused by unexpected comments from Jerome Powell during a policy discussion hosted by the International Monetary Fund. Powell stated that despite progress on inflation, there is still a long way to go to achieve the 2% target. The uncertainty began earlier in the day with remarks from Richmond Fed’s Thomas Barkin, suggesting the need for an economic slowdown to combat inflation. As a result, investors adjusted rate probabilities, moving the Fed’s policy shift from May to June and reducing the expected extent of rate cuts next year. The markets closed with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, Invesco QQQ Trust, Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF, and iShares Russell 2000 ETF all lower. No sector registered gains, with the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund and Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund being the weakest performers. The CBOE Volatility Index increased, and among mega-cap stocks, Walt Disney Co. was the best performer while Tesla Inc. was the worst. Bonds experienced a significant selloff, and the US Dollar Index strengthened. Gold managed to close higher, and Bitcoin saw an increase in value following a volatile session. Bitcoin’s market cap also surpassed that of Tesla and surpassed 494 S&P 500 companies.