Global stocks rise as Fed Chair Jerome Powell confirms interest rates will remain low for longer

• Global stocks gained Thursday after Jerome Powell struck a reassuring tone for central-bank policy.
• The Fed chairman said it could take more than three years before inflation reached the Fed's target of 2%.
• Yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose to 1.4%, its highest in a year.

Global stocks rose Thursday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell wrapped up his two-day congressional testimony by assuring that US interest rates would remain low for longer, soothing some concern that an acceleration in inflation could prompt a shift in monetary policy.

Powell's remarks led to a sharp turnaround across numerous asset classes, Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid said. After falling by as much as 0.56% shortly after Wednesday's open, the S&P 500 ended the session 1.14% higher in its strongest daily performance in over three weeks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. Yields on the 10-year US Treasury note rose 3 basis points to just over 1.4% on Thursday - their highest level in a year.

Powell has "again been pouring oil on troubled markets and making some very sensible distinctions between price level rises and inflation," said ING's Robert Carnell.

In his remarks to the House Financial Services Committee, Powell said it could take more than three years before inflation reached the Fed's target of 2%. That helped to reiterate the message that the central bank was in no rush to pare back on stimulus anytime soon, Deutsche's Reid said. Powell also reaffirmed his message that the labor market was far from the Fed's goal, saying there was still "a long way to go" before the US got to maximum employment.

That was enough for the "perpetual circling dip-buyers in multiple asset classes to re-emerge from hiding," wrote Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA.

"With the Fed confirming that it will look beyond any short-term spike in inflation, we see real rates on cash deposits remaining negative," said Mark Haefele, the chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management. "Against this backdrop, investors should continue to search for positive real yields."

Another positive for markets was that the US Food and Drug Administration released data showing Johnson & Johnson's single-dose coronavirus vaccine was safe and effective. It's expected to become the third vaccine to reach the American public, after Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech's products, as its efficacy paves the way for emergency authorization.

In the UK, a think tank is urging Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to deliver a £100 billion, or $140 billion, fiscal boost to help the economy recover from the damage caused by the pandemic. The Times reported that Sunak was preparing for the holiday on stamp duty, or the home-purchase tax, to be extended until the end of June.

The UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.4%, and Germany's DAX rose 0.5%.

In Asia, the Hong Kong government announced stamp duty would rise on stock transactions for the first time in three decades. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.6%, Japan's Nikkei rose 1.6%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1%.

Data released by the Energy Information Administration showed US oil production suffered a 10% drop due to the Texas power cuts. Combined with an uber-dovish Powell and an already-tight physical market, oil prices extended this month's rally. Brent Crude rose 0.8%, to $66.72, and West Texas Intermediate rose 0.7%, to $63.72.