Wall St shrugs off Trump’s blast at the Fed

PRESiDENT Trump has turned on the man he picked to run the Federal Reserve, ripping into the central bank’s decision to raise interest rates.

The dollar fell against a host of currencies after the president said he was ‘not thrilled’ with the Fed and its president Jerome Powell, adding that he should be doing more to back the US during its trade dispute with other superpowers.

But despite the clash between the White House and the Fed, Wall Street remained on course for its longest ever bull run, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high last night.

The benchmark has more than quadrupled since the low reached in March 2009 in the depths of the financial crisis.

Today the bull run will turn 3,453 days old, making it the longest such streak in history.

Trump has consistently hailed rising share prices as a sign he is handling the economy well. However, yesterday he expressed his frustration at being held back by the central bank. He told reporters he was ‘not thrilled’ with the Fed for raising interest rates, which it has done five times since he took office. Trump appointed 65-year-old Powell in February to replace Janet Yellen.

He has hiked rates twice since. That has made the dollar stronger, making imports cheaper and exports more expensive – frustrating the president as he tries to win a global trade war. Trump is slapping billions of dollars’ worth of tariffs on goods from the EU, Canada, Mexico and China, saying the US gets a raw deal on international trade. But countries are retaliating.

Trump said: ‘We’re negotiating very powerfully and strongly with other nations. We’re going to win. But during this period of time i should be given some help by the Fed. i’m not thrilled with his raising of interest rates, no.’