US stock exchanges showed mixed performance on Wednesday. By the close in New York, the Dow was valued at 48,464 points, marking a 0.2 percent decrease compared to the previous trading day. However, just minutes before, the broader S&P 500 was up by 0.8 percent at approximately 7,023 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 was calculated at around 26,205 points, showing a 1.4 percent gain.
Separately, US President Donald Trump once again threatened the head of the US central bank, Jerome Powell. Trump stated that Powell would have to step down if he did not vacate the Fed chair after his term ends. Powell’s time as Fed Chair is scheduled to conclude on May 15th. Although it is customary for Powell to temporarily continue in his role if a successor hasn’t been found by then, Trump’s preferred candidate for the position, Kevin Warsh, still requires confirmation from both the Senate Banking Committee and the full Senate. Compplicating this, Republican representative Thom Tillis intends to confirm the appointment in committee only if the US Department of Justice drops its investigations against Powell, purportedly to ensure the central bank’s crucial independence for price stability.
In other markets, the European common currency strengthened slightly on Wednesday evening, with one Euro priced at 1.1798 US dollars, meaning a dollar cost 0.8476 Euros. Gold prices weakened, dropping by 1.0 percent to $4,794 per fine ounce by the evening, which equates to 130.65 Euros per gram. Meanwhile, oil prices rose slightly: a barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea cost $94.91 at around 10 PM German time on Wednesday, an increase of 12 cents, or 0.1 percent, compared to the previous day’s close.
