A tv presumption broadcasts Jerome Powell, president of the US Federal Reserve, speaking aft a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) gathering connected the level of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) successful New York, US, connected Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Opposition to the Trump administration's transgression probe of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is gaining momentum.
On Sunday evening stateside, Powell said national prosecutors are investigating him implicit the cardinal bank's $2.5 cardinal renovation of its headquarters, and his related grounds earlier Congress.
Powell suggested the probe reflects President Donald Trump's vexation with the Fed's refusal to little rates arsenic aggressively arsenic helium has demanded.
The probe rapidly triggered a question of bipartisan criticism.
"The reported transgression enquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented effort to usage prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence," a statement said Monday. It was signed by erstwhile Fed chairs, economists and different elder officials who served successful erstwhile Democratic and Republican administrations.
Some Republican lawmakers besides pushed back, with North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis saying helium would block immoderate Trump appointees to the Fed.
Lloyd Blankfein, the erstwhile CEO of Goldman Sachs, went further, describing the transgression probe arsenic "an effort astatine murder-suicide" of aggregate U.S. institutions.
Despite the uproar, U.S. markets climbed, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average adjacent closing astatine caller highs.
Former Fed Chair and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she was "surprised the marketplace isn't much concerned." It's a concern that is "extremely chilling," she added.
But Jim Lebenthal, main markets strategist astatine Cerity Partners, told CNBC that there's conscionable "too galore bully things" successful the abbreviated word for investors to absorption on, specified arsenic a steadfast system and earnings.
That does not mean the way up for markets is clear. Trump announced Monday that any state doing concern with Iran would look a 25% tariff.
Though China was not mentioned successful his station connected Truth Social, the state is Iran's biggest trading partner. The caller tariffs, successful different words, could complicate the uneasy commercialized truce betwixt Beijing and Washington, oregon adjacent spark retaliation from China, analysts say.
If the gait of developments successful caller weeks is immoderate indication, investors whitethorn request to brace for much obstacles successful the coming days.
— CNBC's Dan Mangan, Jeff Cox and Yun Li contributed to this report.
What you request to cognize today
And finally...
Hedge funds had their champion twelvemonth since 2009. These 2 strategies drove the biggest returns
The planetary hedge money manufacture delivered a 12.6% yearly instrumentality past twelvemonth crossed each strategy types, its biggest since the Global Financial Crisis.
The returns were driven chiefly by stock-picking strategies that stake agelong and abbreviated connected equity markets, arsenic good arsenic macro managers that usage stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies to commercialized big-picture macroeconomic themes.
Both these strategies were up much than 17% for the year, according to caller information published by manufacture tracker Hedge Fund Research.
— Hugh Leask
English (US) ·