April 21 (UPI) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 747 points or 1.91% Monday to 38,394.77, part of a larger stock market decline after comments by President Donald Trump about U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
In addition to the Dow, the S&P 500 dipped by 112.8 points or 2.14% to 5,169 Monday morning, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 428.77 points or 2.63% to 15,857.68 at 10:30 a.m. EDT.
Gold climbed above $3,400 an ounce, gaining $109.70 or 3.3% to 3,438.10 at 10:30 a.m.
Trump’s comments Monday on his Truth Social platform calling for Powell to lower interest rates, have not given investors certainty.
Crude oil dropped to its lowest point since April 8, falling $1.53 or 2.44% to $63.10 a barrel as of 10:30 a.m. Monday.
Trump referred to Powell in the social media post as “Mr. Too Late” and “a major loser,” calling on him to cut the Effective Federal Funds Rate.
“There is virtually No Inflation. With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates,” Trump wrote in the post.
Trump has previously called for Powell to be fired, accusing him of playing politics amid the economic decline brought on following Trump’s announcements of major international tariffs. Powell has said publicly that Trump’s tariffs would lead to “higher inflation and slower growth.”
The S&P 500 has declined more than 8% since Trump announced a series of international tariffs on April 2, with the Nasdaq dropping by 10% and the Dow Jones losing 9%.
The Fed chair’s term expires in October 2026, after he was nominated and confirmed during Trump’s first term.
Last Friday, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters the Trump administration is examining whether or not legal grounds exist to remove Powell.
“We’re really thinking about this as a bit of an endless environment in terms of direction…and that’s in particular because we just don’t know where tariffs end up. This is a market trying to get clarity on direction, and not getting a lot of conclusions,” U.S. Bank Investment Strategist Robert Haworth told CNBC in an interview.
“If uncertainty continues for an extended period of time — meaning multiple quarters – I think that becomes more challenging for corporate earnings and decision making, and we’ve seen some of that in the earnings season so far.”
