Stocks and bonds rally as Fed pushes back hike expectations

As expected, the Fed dropped the word ‘patient’ from its March meeting notes, a move which had been viewed as a more hawkish signal. But the central bank surprised investors by simultaneously cutting growth and inflation forecasts, prompting a sharp rally in a variety of assets. The news prompted the S&P 500 to reverse course, moving out of the red and ending the day 1.2% higher. Ten-year US treasury yields, meanwhile, dropped 14 basis points to 1.92% as traders factored in a lower likelihood of a June rate hike. A number of investment bank analysts subsequently pushed back their expec...