Markets Gain After Trump Says He Has No Plans to Oust Fed Chief
A market rebound that started on Wall Street continued in Asia on Wednesday after President Trump said he had 'no intention' of firing the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell.
The statement, along with reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told investors that he expected the tariff standoff with China to ease 'over the very near future,' helped calm the latest trade war jitters. The 2.5 percent gain by the S&P 500 on Tuesday reversed the previous day's 2.4 percent slide.
The positive wave moved across most of Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.7 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 2.4 percent, and the Kospi in South Korea 1.5 percent.
And S&P 500 futures signaled a 1.4 percent gain when trading begins later on Wednesday. But for many investors, this week's rebound remains an uptick, and the trade tensions have left Wall Street captive to the latest statements from the White House. The S&P 500, the main benchmark for U.S. equities, sits nearly 12 percent below its level on Jan. 20, when Mr. Trump took office.
Elsewhere in the markets:
Leading the stock gains in Asia was Taiwan, where the benchmark index was up 3.9 percent. Markets in Taiwan, whose technology supply chain could be damaged by the tariffs, have been hammered since Mr. Trump took office.
The dollar regained some of its losses in recent days. It was up 0.3 percent against the yen, and against the euro and British pound, it gained 0.2 percent.
Ten-year Treasury bonds gained, a sign that investors were more willing to buy U.S. debt. The yield, which moves inversely to price, dropped 15 basis points, to 4.35 percent.
Oil futures rose 0.6 percent.
Gold, which hit a record $3,500 an ounce on Tuesday, continued easing back from that price. Its price fell to $3,334 on Tuesday, down 1.4 percent for the day.
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