Most economists viewed the Federal Reserve's policy statement Wednesday as dovish, because the Fed left in the words "considerable time" in assessing how long it will refrain from raising interest rates after it finishes quantitative easing.
But financial markets showed a schizophrenic reaction, with stocks seeing one thing and bonds, the dollar and gold apparently seeing something else.
"Bonds, gold, the dollar all heard hawkishness. All three markets have a different interpretation than the stock market," Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at Lindsey Group, told CNBC.
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Stocks managed modest gains, while bonds fell, the dollar rose and gold fell. An interest rate hike would generally hurt stocks as well as bonds and gold, while helping the dollar.
"Why stocks are ignoring the bond market response, I don't know," Boockvar said. "This discrepancy between markets is glaring."
The Fed has kept its federal funds rate target at a record low of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008. Many economists expect the first Fed rate hike to come around the middle of next year.
The central bank is leaving its options open, says Stephen Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities.
"By opting to retain this phrase ['considerable time'] in the statement, the [Fed's policymaking] committee has not precluded a rate hike in the second or third quarter of 2015, nor have they guaranteed a tightening in policy," he wrote in a commentary obtained by MarketWatch.
Ricchiuto said weaker-than-expected jobs and price data for August probably convinced the Fed to leave in the wording.
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