The president, under increasing pressure for singlehandedly
destabilizing global markets with his trade war, has turned his attention to
interest rates in a bid to avoid what economists increasingly fear is a
recession dead ahead.
Trump’s
public mulling over whether he can legally fire Powell have market
watchers eyeing a potential broad-based loss of confidence in the US economy if
he were to try it.
The 78-year-old Republican’s taunts came before he met with
executives of major retailers at the White House—those whose businesses are set
to bear the brunt of tariffs the White House has temporarily
suspended. The Monday meeting was said to have included representatives
from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Target.
By the
time markets closed, the S&P 500 and other major US stock indices had
dropped around 2.5%, The gauge of the dollar weakened to a 15-month low.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury fell with the yield reaching 4.4%.
As investors turned away from US securities, haven assets
climbed. Gold jumped to another record, above US$3,400 an ounce, while the
Swiss franc gained around 1% against the dollar.
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