Wall Street today: US stocks are lower open for fear of removing Fed chair | Einsmark news

US equities indices opened on Monday after President Donald Trump’s renewed attacks on Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell expressed concern about the independence of the central bank. At the opening bell, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 236.2 points, or 0.60%, to 38,906.04. The S&P 500 dropped 49.8 points, or 0.94%, to 5,232,94, while the Nasdaq composition dropped 233.7 points, or 1.43%, to 16,052,764. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said on Friday that Trump was studying whether he could fire Powell. The remarks raise new questions about whether the Fed can maintain its years of independence with the president who can increasingly dissatisfied in the difficult terms that the central bank has not moved to lower interest rates. First Published: 21 Apr 2025, 07:23 PM IST