U.S. markets were poised to open with big gains after President Donald Trump said he would not attempt to fire the head of the Federal Reserve, the Associated Press reports. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.9% before the bell Wednesday, while S&P 500 futures rose 2.6%. Nasdaq futures climbed a full 3%.
Trump, upset that the Federal Reserve was not cutting interest rates immediately, previously said that he could fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell but told reporters Tuesday, “I have no intention of firing him.”
Among stocks seeing a big rebound is Tesla after Elon Musk said that he will spend less time in Washington and more time running his electric vehicle company. The promise follows the company’s quarterly financial report late Tuesday and a massive tail off in profit. Tesla shares rose 7% before the opening bell Wednesday.
Big technology stocks also gained early Wednesday, with Nvidia leading the way. The chipmaker’s shares have swung wildly with the recent market undulations and were up 5.5% before the bell.
Apple rose 3%, and Meta gained 4.5% after the European Union fined the companies 500 million euros and 200 million euros, respectively, for breaching its digital competition rules.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 55 cents to $64.22 per barrel but is still on track for its worst month since October 2023. That’s been good for consumers, with the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. Wednesday coming in at $3.17, nearly 14% lower than last year at this point. Brent crude, the international standard, added 54 cents to $67.98 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar declined to 141.99 Japanese yen from 142.37 yen.
