US stocks climbed after Donald Trump said he had no plans to fire Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell, easing worries about the independence of the country’s central bank that had rocked markets this week.
The S&P 500 ended Wednesday up 1.7 per cent, although the Wall Street benchmark retreated from earlier gains of more than 3 per cent in the latest volatile trading session. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index climbed 2.5 per cent, while European equities also made gains.
The moves came after the president late on Tuesday reiterated his frequent complaint that the Fed needed to cut borrowing costs, but added: “I don’t want to talk about that because I have no intention of firing [Powell].”