Profit taking, irrational exuberance getting some rationality, fear that US inflation may not have been slayed – whatever the reason, Wall Street was hit by its biggest bout of selling in around two weeks, or in other words since the US election.

The S&P 500 (-1.3%), Dow (-0.7%) and Nasdaq (2.2%) all fell.

About the only thing going up was volatility (Vix: +13%).

That doesn’t bode well for the ASX today, although futures trading points to a more modest 0.3% pull back here.

US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell pooped the party by suggesting ongoing economic growth, a solid job market, and inflation above the U.S. central bank’s 2% target meant the Fed could be cautious with pathway for future rate cuts.

Not exactly champagne popping sentiments and it led to betting on a December rate cut being dialled back from the near certainty a couple of weeks ago to around 60% now.

The potential for inflation to get off the chain again under the big spending, big tax cutting and big tariff pledges of the incoming administration may become a more prominent feature of the so-called “Trump Trade”.

Those worries fed through to US Treasury yields edging up, the US dollar having its biggest weekly gain since September and gold down around 4% over the week, although it was flat on Friday.

Another part of the Trump Trade firmly in place is Bitcoin’s rise, now past $US90,000 – up 30% since the November election and seemingly on its way to $US100,000 as crypto bulls charge on with their ears pinned back.

A fresh wrinkle in the Trump Trade is the sell-off of big drug and vaccine makers following news that anti-vaccine, anti-fluoride, anti-Ozempic, pro-Ivermectin (a veterinary anti-parasite drench) activist Robert Kennedy Jr was Mr Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health.

Moderna fell another 7% on Friday and has lost around 30% of its value since the US election, while Pfizer and Novavax were also dumped, along with other products Mr Kennedy doesn’t like either, such as Pepsi and Coca Cola.

Oil also fell on Friday over fears of weakening Chinese demand and the US rate cut narrative becoming less clear.

Over the week, the global benchmark Brent crude slipped 4% and West Texas Intermediate crude fell 5%.