A mistake in communication may have made investors think the Federal Reserve is adopting a looser monetary policy, following a speech by chair Jerome Powell on November 28.

Powell said “interest rates are still low by historical standards, and they remain just below the broad range of estimates of the level that would be neutral for the economy”. On October 3, he said rates were “a long way” from neutral levels.

Markets seem to have immediately interpreted his words as a policy shift that will