The three major indexes on Wall Street were lying and bubbling quietly just above zero when several media outlets published information from sources that Trump would soon fire Powell.
This made the curves turn sharply downward – before Trump soon dismissed the information, and the stocks rose again.
When the smoke and fog, at least temporarily, had settled, the broad S&P500 index had risen 0,3 percent at the close – after having been down to minus 0,6 percent.
”Don't like”
The Dow Jones industrial index closed at plus 0,5 percent, also after a visit to minus 0,6 percent.
Nasdaq's technology-heavy composite index rose 0,3 percent after having been at minus 0,8 percent. Thus, the index closed at a new record level for the second day in a row.
The dollar exchange rate and the interest rate on US government bonds also reacted briefly but clearly to the news.
Trump has several times fiercely criticized Powell for not lowering the US key interest rate. But Powell has insisted that interest rate decisions should be made by the central bank based on real economic statistics and without political interference.
Larry Tentarelli, founder of the financial market analysis service Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, says that very many players on the stock exchanges think that the central bank chief "has done a very good job".
The market would not like it if Powell got fired, says Tentarelli to CNBC.
A trial balloon
Commentators are now also pointing out that the interest rate on US government bonds will likely rise sharply if Trump fires Powell.
At the same time, many read into Trump's comments that he still keeps open the possibility of getting rid of Powell.
Now that Trump says he "does not plan" to fire Powell, we must wonder if the first news was a trial balloon to see how the markets would react, says Steve Sosnick at online broker Interactive Broker to news agency Bloomberg.
