NEW YORK | Stocks surge as Powell hints at slower interest rate hikes

NEW YORK  — U.S. stocks are surging Wednesday afternoon after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that the Fed might be willing to raise interest rates at a slower pace next year.

That relieved investors who were concerned that rising rates would drag down the U.S. economy and possibly bring an end to the nine-year-old bull market.

In a speech to the Economic Club of New York, Powell…