Has the effect of monetary policy announcements on asset prices changed?

The Federal Reserve increasingly has relied on forward guidance about the future path of the federal funds rate to implement monetary policy since the federal funds target rate reached its effective lower bound. The enhanced use of forward policy guidance has drawn attention to any change in its influence on the real economy. Changes in policy guidance affect the private sector?s expectations about the future path of the federal funds rate and, in turn, affect bond yields, stock prices and asset values. Changes in asset values influence real activity through their effects on spending by consumers and businesses. Doh and Connolly find a weakened response by stock prices and bond yields to the increased use of policy guidance since the recent financial crisis. Longer-term bond yields became less responsive because a prolonged period of the low interest rate reduced the variability of medium-term expectations; stock prices became less responsive because investors revised down their economic outlook in response to some announcements of a more accommodative monetary policy.