Stocks drop as dollar gains, gold eases with Fed cuts uncertain

NEW YORK/LONDON >> MSCI’s global equities gauge fell on Wednesday while the dollar rose and gold prices dipped, as investors digested cautious comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell about when the central bank might next cut U.S. interest rates.

In his first remarks since the Fed meeting ended with a rate cut last week, Powell on Tuesday underlined the need for policymakers to balance the competing risks of high inflation and a weaker jobs market in their next monetary policy decisions. Traders were still pricing in a rate cut in October, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

“Despite a fairly quiet day in terms of major directional market drivers, equities have trended lower on anxiety over whether or not the Fed cuts rates at each meeting for the balance of this year,” sai