Advertisment
Stock futures climbed on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said he doesn’t plan to remove Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell from his post as central bank leader. They also got a boost as Trump also signaled tariffs on Chinese imports may go down.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials sprinted 693 points, or 1.8% to 40,050.
Futures for the S&P 500 index 125.75 points, or 2.4%, to 5,440.50
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite leaped 525 points, or 2.8%, to 18,910.
The rally in futures came after Trump said late Tuesday that he has “no intention” of firing Powell, whose term as Fed chair will end in May 2026.
The comment is a reversal of sorts for the president, who fired off barbs against Powell as recently as Monday, calling the central bank leader a “major loser” and demanding that interest rates come down. Just last week, Trump said in a Truth Social post that Powell’s “termination cannot come fast enough.”
Trump also said he’s willing to take a less confrontational approach to trade talks with China, noting that the current 145% tariff on Chinese imports is “very high, and it won’t be that high. … No, it won’t be anywhere near that high. It’ll come down substantially. But it won’t be zero.”
Stocks with higher exposure to China that have sold off in recent weeks rallied in the premarket on Trump’s softer stance. This included “Magnificent Seven” titans Apple and Nvidia, which were up 3% and 6%, respectively.
Shares of Tesla popped 7% also due to easing tariff pressures and after CEO Elon Musk said during the company’s Tuesday earnings call that his time spent running Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency will drop “significantly” starting next month.
Stocks are coming off a winning session, with the 30-stock Dow surging more than 1,000 points to end a four-day losing streak. Both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ jumped more than 2%.
Investor sentiment on Tuesday was aided by comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who hinted at the possibility of “de-escalation” in Trump’s trade war with China.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index popped 1.9% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng shot higher 2.4%.
Oil prices slid 69 cents to $62.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices stumbled $83.50 to $3,335.90 U.S. an ounce.