They had to throw a curve ball….It's such a cheap tactic to try and say "Ooooh don't get excited we'll still raise 2 more times" when we all know they're full of it. The next 2-3 CPI prints are going to come in very good. We all know it. Wall St knows it. Fed will have no legs to stand on to hike rates again.
The macro's are going to sell off on this...not because Wall St actually believes that nonsense Powell is saying, but because they want an excuse to ride the market down for a good 5-8% drop, claim the market was just correcting, and then ride it back up to these levels and higher in a matter of weeks.
It's all like clockwork at this point.