Stocks wobble as Wall Street looks to end volatile week on high note

Live2 updates

• 

  Fri, August 9, 2024 at 4:15 PM GMT+2

  Donald Trump wants a ‘say’ in setting interest rates

  Former President Donald Trump said he would like a “say” in setting interest rates if he is reelected, further raising the prospect that the Republican nominee could seek to reduce the independence of the Federal Reserve if he wins in November.

  “I feel the president should have at least say in there, yeah, I feel that strongly,” the presidential candidate said Thursday in response to a question about the US central bank interest rate policy and the prospects of a soft landing for the US economy.

  Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reports that Trump’s comments were the strongest indication yet that Trump does, in fact, want some direct involvement with the central bank operations if he were to reach the Oval Office again.

  The remarks came after allies of the former president have floated a series of ideas in recent months that could undercut an independent Federal Reserve, ranging from firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to a plan first reported in the Wall Street Journal that has the president himself playing a role in setting interest rates.

  Trump has previously said he thinks he has the authority to fire the Federal Reserve chair, though some legal experts disagree.

• 

  Fri, August 9, 2024 at 3:32 PM GMT+2

  Stocks edge lower in morning trading

  Wall Street was poised to end the week in the red after opening trades on Friday sent stocks slightly lower, capping a series of sessions that suffered through the worst rout of the year, and when Wall Street’s “fear gauge” — the CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX) — soared to its highest levels since the throes of the pandemic. US stocks wavered at the opening bell Friday, as Wall Street looked to end a volatile week on a high note.

  The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slumped 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) edged lower by 0.2%.