Powell emphasizes patience in dealing with interest rate adjustments, U.S. stocks and cryptocurrency markets fall together

On February 12, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that given the overall strength of the economy, a stable labor market and inflation still above the 2% target, there is no need for the Fed to rush to adjust interest rates. This implies officials will remain patient on rate cuts.

After Powell's speech, the three major US stock indices touched intraday lows at one point with mixed performances at close. The Dow Jones rose by 0.28%, S&P500 index increased by 0.03%, while Nasdaq fell by 0.36%. Most large tech stocks declined with Tesla plunging by 6.34%, marking its biggest single-day drop since December 18th; Nvidia ended its five-day winning streak.

The cryptocurrency market followed tech stocks in decline; Bitcoin experienced significant fluctuations in the evening, dropping below $95k at one point and quoted at $95,962 when writing this article - a decrease of nearly1.92% over past 24 hours. Ethereum performed even weaker with prices falling nearly3%; currently quoted at $2,603 as most altcoins also saw significant declines.The overall market sentiment was pessimistic due to investors' clear concerns about uncertainties in macroeconomic policies.

In terms of forex commodities,the dollar index fell by0 .35% ending a three-day rise while sterling pound,Euro,and Australian/New Zealand currencies performed well.Geopolitical tensions continued causing oil prices to rise for three consecutive days,Brent crude closed up almost1 .5%. After gold hit record highs for three consecutive days,investors began taking profits resulting in fluctuating downward trends throughout day.Spot gold dropped0 .32% breaking below$2900 .

Markets generally believe that Powell's speech summarized Fed's roadmap for2025: if progress isn't made towards reducing inflation,rates will be maintained;if economic slowdown is more severe,rates will be cut.Data shows majority economists predict next Fed rate cut will only occur next quarter,contrary to previous expectations of a March cut.Over the next two days,the market will receive latest inflation data: US January CPI on Wednesday and PPI inflation data on Thursday.