Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell ignited a market rally Wednesday by saying interest rates are "just below" broad estimates of a level considered neutral, a setting designed to neither speed nor slow economic growth.

Investors welcomed his remarks because they appeared to retreat from a comment he made in early October describing the Fed's benchmark rate as a "long way" from a neutral level -- which implied to some listeners that Mr. Powell planned to keep raising rates for a while. His remarks Wednesday suggested to such investors that the Fed might stop sooner or move more slowly.

Mr. Powell did not provide any more guidance on the likely path for rates, and noted they remain low by historical standards.

He offered nothing to dispel market expectations of another rate increase at the Fed's policy meeting on Dec. 18-19.

"There is no preset policy," he said. "We will be paying very close attention to what incoming economic and financial data are telling us."