By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -U.S. indexes were on track to open lower on Monday after President Donald Trump’s renewed attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sparked concerns about the central bank’s independence and rattled investors grappling with an escalating trade war.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Friday that Trump and his team would study whether firing the Fed chair was an option, a day after Trump’s comments that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough”.
The continued attacks on Powell increased worries about the Fed’s independence in deciding the monetary policy path in the world’s largest economy, hitting investor confidence in U.S. assets already diminished by Trump’s sweeping changes to trade policy.
Losses in U.S. equity futures and the dollar further underlined those concerns. [MKTS/GLOB] [FRX/]
“The question is whether Powell could get fired. Apparently, Trump doesn’t have the power to do that,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank.
“Powell looks like the only one who could counter — and win — against Trump, but the markets could well continue to be the collateral damage.”
Powell has said that the law would not allow his removal. However, a case pending before the Supreme Court is being closely watched as a potential precedent for whether Trump can remove him.
At 8:15 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 392 points, or 1%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 63.75 points, or 1.2%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 268.75 points, or 1.46%.
Gold miners rose in premarket trading as the safe-haven precious metal jumped, with Newmont rising 3.3%.
Futures linked to the small-cap Russell 2000 lost 1%. Trading volumes were relatively thin as investors returned from the Good Friday market holiday and most European markets were closed.
Tariff concerns continued to feature prominently on investors’ radar after China warned countries against striking a broader economic deal with the United States at Beijing’s expense.
Fed policymakers have recently flagged that tariff uncertainty was clouding their outlook and dampening growth, even as Trump makes repeated calls for lower interest rates.
Traders are now pricing in about 90 basis points of easing from the Fed this year, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The uncertainty over trade and monetary policy has hit stocks hard this year, with the S&P 500 down more than 10% year-to-date and 14% from its February record high.
Company results will be keenly watched this week for clues on how corporations are navigating the uncertainty, as Tesla and Alphabet kick off earnings among the “Magnificent Seven” megacap stocks.
