FINANCIAL BLOG

During last week’s press conference after the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate decision, Chairman Jerome Powell warned his audience there is no risk-free path for interest rates right now. Inflation is above target and growth appears resilient. We think that the soft labor market will eventually weaken inflation pressures, so the Fed is making the right call even though it may not look right from all angles.

LPL Research provides its Weekly Market Performance for the week of September 15, 2025. The U.S. stock market delivered yet another record-setting week with major large and small cap benchmarks scoring fresh records. This week’s risk-on mood arrived in the wake of the Federal Reserve (Fed) resuming its rate-cutting cycle after an eight-month pause, while international markets faced monetary policy decisions of their own.

Global bond markets have sold off recently due to uncertainty surrounding key political changes most notably in France and Japan. Japan’s Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, resigned last week, which adds a potential shift in fiscal policy to concerns about slowing monetary policy normalization.