WASHINGTON (AP) — Mona Mahajan, an investment strategist for Allianz Global Investors, says Wall Street prefers Jerome Powell to other finalists for the Fed post, in part because he appears to share Chair Janet Yellen’s go-slow approach to interest-rate hikes.
“Relative to a John Taylor or Kevin Warsh, Powell is more of a continuity candidate,” Mahajan says, suggesting that low borrowing rates could support economic growth and a strong stock market.
Mahajan says she also thinks that more than Yellen, Powell, like Trump, might be inclined to relax some of the stricter regulations that were imposed on banks after the 2008 financial crisis.
“He wants to ease some of the Dodd-Frank rules and relieve some of the pressure on the region and community banks,” Mahajan says.