Investors bolting from the market after hawkish Fed speech are being too hasty, Jim Cramer says

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday said that investors exiting the market after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish speech on Wednesday are acting too rashly.

“I have no doubt there will be more people bolting from stocks tomorrow morning, believing they’ve been given a tremendous opportunity to get out well ahead of when things accelerate to the downside. I think they’re being too frantic,” he said.

Stocks fell Wednesday after the Fed raised interest rates by 50 basis points and forecasted hiking rates through next year. Powell also signaled at the conclusion of the central bank’s December meeting that more data is needed to support that inflation has subsided substantially.

“Let Powell play for time. We’ll get lower numbers — not necessarily a real slowdown, but lower numbers,” Cramer said.

He also reiterated his stance that more areas of the economy need to cool before policymakers can declare victory against inflation, despite the Labor Department reporting on Tuesday that prices rose less than expected in November.

But that doesn’t mean the Fed is losing its fight, he reminded investors.

“If Powell felt that things weren’t going his way … what he would’ve done is hit us with another 75 basis point rate hike, not a 50. He didn’t do that because he knows we’re making progress,” he said.