U.S. stock indices experienced sharp declines at the close of trading yesterday, Monday, as political tensions regarding the future of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell escalated.
By the end of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2.5%, losing 971 points to close at 38,170 points. The S&P 500 index also declined by 2.3%, losing 124 points to close at 5,158 points. The NASDAQ index recorded a similar drop of 2.5%, losing 415 points to close at 15,870 points.
These declines come after the three main indices recorded a third weekly decrease in the past four weeks, with the S&P 500 losing 1.5% last week, while both the Dow Jones and NASDAQ lost more than 2%.
At the same time, U.S. bond yields rose significantly during today's trading, with the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds climbing more than 7 basis points to reach 4.401%, while the yield on 30-year bonds increased by about 10 basis points to record 4.908%.
Trump calls Powell the biggest loser
Former U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on Jerome Powell, describing him as the biggest loser. In a post on the "Truth Social" platform, Trump said, "Many are calling for preemptive interest rate cuts... With energy costs falling significantly, food prices dropping sharply, and the trend of most other things heading downward, inflation is nearly non-existent."
Trump added: "With this clear downward trend in these costs, which I have predicted perfectly, it is nearly impossible for there to be inflation, but there may be an economic slowdown unless the Mr. Late-to-the-Party, the biggest loser, lowers interest rates now."
Trump concluded his post by stating, "Europe has already cut interest rates seven times. Powell has always been too late, except during election time when he cut them to help Joe Biden, who later became Kamala, win the election."
