NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes each slid to more than one-week lows on Monday after US President Donald Trump doubled down on attacks against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, amplifying concerns about the central bank’s autonomy and rattling markets.
Trump repeated his criticism of Powell, saying in a Truth Social post that the economy could slow down unless interest rates are lowered immediately.
This was the latest salvo in Trump’s continued criticism of the Fed chair, heightening worries about the central bank’s ability to independently formulate monetary policy in the world’s largest economy and undermining investor confidence in US assets already diminished by Trump’s tariffs.
A White House adviser had said on Friday that Trump and his team would study if firing Powell was an option.
At 11:44 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,057.26 points, or 2.70%, to 38,084.97, the S&P 500 lost 148.27 points, or 2.81%, to 5,134.43, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 512.67 points, or 3.15%, to 15,773.78.
“To remove the Fed (chair) smells bad, for no apparent reason other than the president wants to take control… when (the market) has those question marks, nobody wants to invest,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager, Dakota Wealth Management.
Tariff worries also continued to haunt investors after China warned countries against striking deals with the US at Beijing’s expense.
All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes fell on the day. The consumer discretionary index led declines, dragged by a 6.9% dip in Tesla shares after a Reuters report said the launch of the EV-maker’s cheaper Model Y car was delayed.
AI heavyweight Nvidia dropped 5.6%, extending losses after Reuters reported that Huawei Technologies planned to begin mass shipments of an advanced artificial-intelligence chip to customers in China as early as next month.
The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 2.4% and the CBOE Volatility index jumped 5 points to 34.68.
Central bank policymakers have over the past weeks flagged a cloudy interest-rate outlook owing to tariff uncertainty. Traders are now pricing in about 90 basis points of easing from the Fed this year, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The uncertainty over US trade and monetary policy has hit stocks hard this year, with the S&P 500 down over 16% from its February record high.
Company results will be keenly watched this week for clues on how corporations are navigating the uncertainty, as Tesla and Alphabet kick off earnings for the “Magnificent Seven” megacap stocks.
Netflix shares rose 2.4% following an upbeat revenue outlook from the streaming giant despite possible economic turbulence.
FIS was the biggest individual gainer on the S&P 500, with its shares up 3.9% after a brokerage upgrade.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 5.74-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and a 3.2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and seven new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 22 new highs and 146 new lows.
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