Stocks close out choppy day after Trump calls for ousting Fed Chair Powell

US stocks were mixed Thursday as President Donald Trump touted trade deal progress with Europe and China and investors digested a threat from the president to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Stocks initially wavered Thursday morning after Trump called for Powell’s “termination” for not cutting interest rates fast enough — a criticism he has levied multiple times in a long-standing feud between the president and the Fed chair.

However, markets shrugged off the jab at Powell and got a boost in the afternoon as Trump said there will “100%” be a trade deal with the European Union and a “very good deal” with China. Investors have been on alert for progress in trade talks during the 90-day pause on most “reciprocal” tariffs.

“Oh, there will be a trade deal, 100%,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “Of course there will be a trade deal. They want to make one very much. We’re going to make a trade deal. I fully expect it. But it’ll be a fair deal.”

Trump also said he’s not worried about US allies turning to China due to his tariffs.

“Nobody can compete with us,” Trump said. “Nobody.”

“I think that you will see we’ll make a very good deal with China,” he added.

The Dow fell 527 points, or 1.33%. The broader S&P 500 held on to its gains and edged higher by 0.13% after dipping into the red in the morning. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.13% after fluctuating between gains and losses.