US stocks end higher after Trump says it ‘highly unlikely’ he would fire Fed chair

​​​​​​​By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - The New York Stock Exchange ended with gains midweek after US President Donald Trump said that it is "highly unlikely" he would fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell, after reports indicated the contrary.

The Dow rose 0.53%, or 231.49 points, to close at 44,254.78.

The Nasdaq added 0.26%, or 52.69 points, to 20,730.49 and the S&P 500 climbed 0.32%, or 19.94 points, to 6,263.7.

The markets rebounded after Trump’s comments about the Fed chair, but the US president left the door open to taking action against the central bank head for "possible" fraud.

He said Powell is "doing a lousy job," and continued to lambast his hitherto refusal to lower interest rates because of inflation concerns.

"We're not planning on doing anything. We're very concerned. He's doing a little renovation for $2.5 billion of the Fed building, a renovation, and they have a close to $900 million cost overrun, and it's a shame," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud. I mean, it's possible there's fraud involved with the $2.5, $2.7 billion renovation. This is a renovation. How do you spend $2.7 billion? And he didn't have proper clearance, etc, etc.," he added.

The New York Times reported that Trump drafted a letter in which he dismissed the central bank chair, and presented it to lawmakers during a meeting Tuesday.

Separately, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book revealed that US economic uncertainty remained elevated in July, contributing to cautious sentiment among businesses.

Many companies passed on at least part of the increased costs to consumers through price hikes or surcharges. Others chose not to raise prices due to customers’ growing sensitivity, which resulted in tighter profit margins, according to the report.

"Contacts in a wide range of industries expected cost pressures to remain elevated in the coming months, increasing the likelihood that consumer prices will start to rise more rapidly by late summer," the report said.

On the data side, US producer prices rose 2.3% on a yearly basis, below expectations of 2.5%.​​​​​​​