Related: Despite interest rate cuts, mortgage rates rise for home buyers So it's happened this week. Both the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index reports showed small increases when many investors and economic experts were expecting flat results or declines.

A strong economy is giving Federal Reserve officials room to move “carefully” as they lower interest rates, the central bank chair said.

Indexes slipped as traders zeroed in on remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said the central bank is in no hurry to cut rates amid a strong economy.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that interest rates are still expected to decline further, but suggested they might not be that much lower over the next few months.

While speaking in Dallas on Thursday, Powell said economic growth will allow the Fed to tread carefully before making any rate cuts.

A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. A warm reading on U.S. producer price inflation in October and hawkish comments by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell weighed on Wall Street and shouldn't distract Asian investors much from focusing on the incoming Trump administration.

"The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said Thursday in Dallas.