SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The stock market's swoon does not change the economic outlook and is merely market participants trying to make sense of global developments, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams told reporters on Friday.

"As the Fed is moving gradually through a process of normalization it's not surprising that we are not going to be at the peak stock prices" of last year, Williams said. So far swings in stock market prices have not fundamentally changed his expectation for moderate economic growth, he said.

Williams said he is open-minded at every Fed meeting, including the one taking place later this month, and that the timing of the first Fed rate hike matters a lot less than the overall path of rate hikes, which should be gradual.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)