Powell pretty much rules out a hike as the central banks next move NBC 6 South Florida [Video]

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it was unlikely that the central bank’s next move will be a rate hike. The comment spurred a rally for the three major averages, with the Dow surging more than 500 points in its session high. Central bank policymakers kept rates steady at the conclusion of their May meeting, holding at a range of 5.25% to 5.5%.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said regardless of the upcoming U.S. presidential election this year, the central bank continues to make its interest rate decisions independently — and that any way otherwise could result in negative consequences.

“It’s hard enough to get the economics right here,” Powell said. “These are difficult things, and if we were to take on a whole other set of factors and use that as a new filter, it would reduce the likelihood we’d actually get the economics right.”

The pending election “just …