Stock market soars on speech by Fed chief, who says no 'preset policy path' for future rate hikes

WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell is under pressure from President Trump and investors to slow interest-rate hikes that could dampen economic growth, but that pressure doesn't seem to be swaying him.

In a highly anticipated speech Wednesday that sent the stock market soaring, Powell appeared to successfully thread a needle: calming investors about future rate hikes while reiterating the Fed's independence - noting rates remain historically low and the central bank will continue raising them as needed driven only by the relevant data.

Powell was mostly upbeat about the U.S. economy, forecasting "continued