US stocks and the dollar plunged again as President Donald Trump intensified his attacks on the US central bank boss calling him “a major loser” for not lowering interest rates.
In a social media post, Trump called on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates “pre-emptively” to help boost the economy, saying Powell had been consistently too slow to respond to economic developments.
“There can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW,” he wrote.
Trump’s criticism of Powell’s handling of the US economy comes as his own plans for tariffs have driven a stock market sell-off and raised fears of economic recession.
The president’s intensifying clash with Powell, whom he named to lead the Fed during his first term, has added to the market turmoil.
The S&P 500, which tracks 500 of the biggest US companies, fell roughly 2.4% on Monday. It has lost roughly 12% of its value since the start of the year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.4% and has dropped about 10% so far this year, while the Nasdaq fell more than 2.5% and is down roughly 18% since January.
However, on Tuesday, trading on most major stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region was subdued. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed around 0.1% lower, and the ASX 200 in Sydney closed around 0.3% lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed about 0.3% higher.
In European early trading, the UK’s FTSE 100 stock exchange was marginally lower by about 0.05%, while Germany’s Dax wasdown around 0.5% and France’s CAC was down 0.6%.
Though the US dollar and US government bonds are typically considered safe assets in times of market turmoil, they have not escaped the recent turbulence.
The dollar index – which measures the strength of the dollar against a set of currencies including the euro – on Monday fell to its lowest level since 2022.
Interest rates on US government debt also continued to rise on Tuesday, as investors demanded higher returns for holding Treasuries.
Meanwhile, the price of gold hit a new all-time record high, breaking the $3,500 (£2,613) per ounce mark as investors seek out so-called “safe haven” assets.
The precious metal is viewed as a safer place to put money during times of economic uncertainty.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said as well as tariffs, gold’s appeal had also increased due there being “no long-term resolution in sight for conflicts around the world, particularly in Ukraine and Gaza”.
“There are also concerns about the risk that geo-political tensions escalate as opportunities in the Arctic are eyed by the US and Russia,” she added.