JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Ilan Benhamou says it’s unlikely that Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be fired and that the stock market will start trading on expectations of the next chair anyway.
“I don’t think Powell will actually be fired, but it doesn’t matter at this point really, as the market will pretty soon realize he’s synthetically out and start pricing what the next Chair will do,” Benhamou said in a note to clients, Bloomberg reports.
“Whether it’s Hassett, Waller or Warsh, there’s no doubt the dove beauty contest will only intensify.”
President Donald Trump has railed against Powell for his refusal to lower interest rates. On Wednesday he said he was “highly unlikely” to fire Powell though reports said he suggested in a private meeting that he was leaning in favor of dismissing the head of the nation’s central bank.
U.S. stocks were shaky as Trump spoke about Powell on Wednesday. The S&P 500’s modest gain in the morning became a drop of 0.7% after initial reports that the president may fire the Fed chair. Stocks then trimmed their losses after Trump’s later comment.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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