{"id":324,"date":"2025-04-23T12:51:59","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T12:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/?p=324"},"modified":"2025-04-26T23:33:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T23:33:54","slug":"wall-street-rises-and-markets-rally-worldwide-as-trump-softens-his-tough-talk-on-tariffs-and-the-fed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/wall-street-rises-and-markets-rally-worldwide-as-trump-softens-his-tough-talk-on-tariffs-and-the-fed\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall Street rises and markets rally worldwide as Trump softens his tough talk on tariffs and the Fed"},"content":{"rendered":"

By STAN CHOE, AP Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 U.S. stocks rose Wednesday as a worldwide rally came back around to Wall Street after\u00a0President Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0appeared to back off\u00a0his criticism of the Federal Reserve<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0his tough talk in his trade war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 climbed 1.7% and added to its\u00a0big gain<\/a>\u00a0from Tuesday that more than made up for a\u00a0steep loss<\/a>\u00a0on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 419 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.5%.<\/p>\n

Wall Street\u2019s gains followed strong moves higher for stocks across much of Europe and Asia. They also continued a dizzying, up-and-down run for financial markets as investors struggle with how to react to so much uncertainty about what Trump will do with his economic policies.<\/p>\n

The market\u2019s latest move was up in part because Trump said late Tuesday that he has \u201cno intention\u201d to fire\u00a0the head<\/a>\u00a0of the Federal Reserve. Trump had been angry with Jerome Powell, whom Trump had called \u201ca major loser,\u201d because of the Fed\u2019s\u00a0hesitance to cut interest rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s tough talk had frightened investors because the Fed is supposed to act independently, without pressure from politicians, so that it can make decisions that may be painful in the short term but are best for the long term.<\/p>\n

While a cut to interest rates by the Fed could give the economy a boost, it could also put upward pressure on inflation. Economists say Trump\u2019s tariffs are likely both to slow the economy and to raise inflation, at least briefly.<\/p>\n

Trump may have recognized the market\u2019s fear about a move against Powell. He may also be looking to keep someone around whom Trump could blame later if the economy does fall into a recession, according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, if the Fed cuts its policy interest rates aggressively, Trump would have little excuse for a recession apart from the pugnacity of his tariff policies,\u201d Wizman said.<\/p>\n

Markets also rose after Trump said late Tuesday that U.S. tariffs on imports coming from China could come down \u201csubstantially\u201d from the current 145%. \u201cIt won\u2019t be that high, not going to be that high,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

The hope along Wall Street has been that Trump would lower his tariffs after negotiating trade deals with other countries, and Trump said Tuesday he would be \u201cvery nice\u201d to the world\u2019s second-largest economy and not play hardball with Chinese President\u00a0Xi Jinping<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an opportunity for a big deal here,\u201d U.S. Treasury Secretary\u00a0Scott Bessent said Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If Trump brings his tariffs down enough, investors believe a recession could be averted.<\/p>\n