Stocks rise as President Biden set to give Powell a second term at the Fed
New York (CNN Business)Wall Street approved of President Joe Biden's intention to nominate Jerome Powell for a second term at the helm of the Federal Reserve.
Stocks opened in the green Monday and mostly added onto their initial gains.
The Dow (INDU) was up 0.6%, or some 220 points, shortly after midday, while the broader S&P 500 (SPX) was up 0.5% and on track for a fresh record high. But the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) pared all of its gains and dipped 0.4%, after gaining as much as 0.8% earlier in the session.
America's big banks were among the strongest performers of the morning.
Powell has steered the economy through the worst of the pandemic as Fed Chairman. The White House cited Powell's "steady leadership" amid the economic turbulence of the pandemic as a reason for the decision.
A second four-year term would mean more of the same from the central bank, which announced earlier this month a rollback of its pandemic-era stimulus measures. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates in the second half of 2022.
For investors, who have gotten used to Powell's Fed leadership after some initial growing pains, it means they know what to expect from the central bank in the years to come.
"This decision removes uncertainty," said ING chief international economist James Knightley in a note.
Biden will nominate Fed Governor Lael Brainard as Vice Chairman. Brainard had also been an option to take over from Powell. Had she been picked as Chairman, the market reaction may have been a bit more rocky — not least because her confirmation would have likely been more challenging compared with that of Powell.
Even so, the Powell confirmation as it stands may face its own hiccups. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, previously called Powell a "dangerous man to head up the Fed."
"Chair Powell and Governor Brainard have similar views on monetary policy," said analysts at Goldman Sachs, pointing at their view that the current high levels of inflation are likely temporary in the grand scheme of things even if they don't seem short-lived at the moment.
"Powell and Brainard have also emphasized that they consider a broad set of indicators to gauge progress on the Fed's broad and inclusive employment goal," the Goldman analysts said.
The President will speak on the nominations at a White House event in the early afternoon.
It's a short week on Wall Street where the exchange will be closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and only open for a half session on Friday.
-- CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
随着拜登总统准备让鲍威尔在美联储连任，股市上涨
纽约（美国有线电视新闻网）华尔街批准了乔·拜登总统提名杰罗姆·鲍威尔连任美联储主席的打算。
周一股市开盘走高，大部分涨幅回升。
午盘后不久，道指 (INDU) 上涨 0.6%，或约 220 点，而更广泛的标准普尔 500 (SPX) 指数上涨 0.5%，并有望创下历史新高。但纳斯达克综合指数 (COMP) 回吐所有涨幅并下跌 0.4%，此前盘中一度上涨 0.8%。
美国的大银行是上午表现最强劲的银行之一。
作为美联储主席，鲍威尔带领经济度过了大流行最严重的时期。白宫将鲍威尔在大流行的经济动荡中的“稳定领导”作为做出这一决定的原因。
第二个四年任期对央行意味着更多相同的内容，该央行本月早些时候宣布取消其大流行时期的刺激措施。美联储预计将在 2022 年下半年加息。
对于在经历了一些最初的成长痛苦之后已经习惯了鲍威尔的美联储领导地位的投资者来说，这意味着他们知道未来几年央行会发生什么。
“这一决定消除了不确定性，”ING 首席国际经济学家 James Knightley 在一份报告中表示。
拜登将提名美联储理事布雷纳德为副主席。布雷纳德也是接替鲍威尔的一个选择。如果她被选为董事长，市场反应可能会更加不稳定——尤其是因为与鲍威尔的确认相比，她的确认可能更具挑战性。
即便如此，鲍威尔的确认可能会面临自己的问题。例如，参议员伊丽莎白沃伦此前称鲍威尔是“领导美联储的危险人物”。
“鲍威尔主席和布雷纳德行长对货币政策的看法相似，”高盛分析师表示，并指出他们认为当前的高通胀水平在宏观计划中可能是暂时的，即使它们看起来不是昙花一现在这一刻。
高盛分析师表示：“鲍威尔和布雷纳德还强调，他们考虑了一系列广泛的指标来衡量美联储广泛而包容的就业目标的进展情况。”
总统将在下午早些时候的白宫活动上就提名发表讲话。
这是华尔街的短暂一周，交易所将于周四感恩节休市，周五只开半场。
-- CNN 的 Kaitlan Collins 和 Betsy Klein 为本报告做出了贡献。
