Stocks went on a wild ride Wednesday as a White House official indicated to CNBC that President Donald Trump was moving closer to firing Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman, initially knocking down the S&P 500. The benchmark rebounded as Trump later denied the report, but traders remained concerned he could follow through.
The S&P 500 added 0.32% and ended at at 6,263.70. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.26%, settling at 20,730.49 and posting its ninth record close of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 231.49 points, or 0.53%, ending at 44,254.78. At its low of the session, the 30-stock index dropped 264.31 points, or 0.6%.
A senior White House official said to Republican lawmakers that Trump “likely will soon” remove Powell as Fed chair. Separately, The New York Times reported that Trump has gone so far to draft a letter for firing Powell and showed it to lawmakers during that meeting.
However, Trump soon after downplayed the reports, saying it is “highly unlikely” he will fire Powell in the near future. “No, we’re not planning on doing it,” Trump said, adding that he does not “rule out anything.”
For weeks, Trump has been pushing for Powell’s ouster, calling for the Fed to lower rates substantially. On Tuesday, he said the Fed should cut rates by 3 percentage points.
But Powell earlier this month confirmed that the central bank would have already eased monetary policy were it not for tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. “In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs,” Powell said.
“The markets would not like it if Powell was fired,” said Larry Tentarelli, founder of the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report. “It’s obviously a political hotbed … but overall, most of the big market participants that I know of think Powell has done a very good job.”
Separately, new data this week led to concerns about persistent inflation and the impact of Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. economy. The consumer price index released Tuesday increased in June from May levels. And while a separate Wednesday report on wholesale prices showed no change month over month, the data “is not as promising when you look under the surface,” said Marc Balcer, director of investment strategy at Girard.
“It’s important to note that PPI does not include the direct impact of tariffs, meaning the $27 billion in tariff revenue collected in June will have to be absorbed by foreign manufacturers, domestic corporations or, ultimately, the consumer,” Balcer said.
Bank earnings continued for a second day. Despite posting better-than-expected earnings results, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley each ended the session modestly lower. Goldman Sachs also topped estimates, and shares rose nearly 1%.
Source: cnbc.com
