(Reuters) -Wall Street’s main indexes each slid to more than one-week lows on Monday after U.S. 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. That followed comments by a White House adviser on Friday that Trump and his team would study if firing Powell was an option.
Trump’s continued criticism of the Fed chair has heightened worries about the central bank’s ability to independently formulate monetary policy in the world’s largest economy, undermining investor confidence in U.S. assets already diminished by Trump’s tariffs.
MARKETS:
The S&P 500 was down 3.13% Monday afternoon, in trading somewhat thinned by the absence of numerous overseas markets that remained closed for Easter. The Nasdaq Composite was down 3.42% and the Dow Jones Industrial index was down 2.94%.
COMMENTS:
JACK ABLIN, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, CRESSET CAPITAL, CHICAGO
“The only new news today that could have triggered this kind of selloff is the fact that investors are worried about Fed independence. If the president puts his own person in, and lowers rates against a backdrop of rising inflation – we’d see a continuation of what we’re experiencing now. Unfortunately, both stocks and the dollar are overvalued, which gives them room to fall more in this environment. The S&P 500, based on my calculations, is still 10 to 15% overdone, above fair market value.”
JAMIE COX MANAGING PARTNER, HARRIS FINANCIAL GROUP, RICHMOND VIRGINIA
“Markets are showing disapproval of a lack of progress on trade negotiations. In the absence of any firm commitments from any countries, markets take the fire first, ask questions later (approach.)“
(Compiled by the Global Finance & Markets Breaking News team)
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