What Happened in Markets Today Markets were roiled by conflicting headlines on Trump and the Fed. The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets reported midday that President Trump had suggested to Congressional Republicans he could soon fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Asian markets struggled to build on Wall Street’s lead. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei were flat, while Sydney, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta rose, with losses seen in Seoul and Manila.

The New York Times said Trump waved a draft letter firing Powell at an Oval Office meeting late Tuesday. Trump had gathered a group of Republicans that had blocked a procedural vote that would have advanced crypto legislation, to convince them to let the legislation advance. Odds of Powell being fired surged to 40% on prediction market Kalshi.

Financial market participants have pushed out yet again the end date for the effort to shrink the size of the Federal Reserve's large balance sheet, the minutes of the U.S. central bank's June 17-18 policy meeting showed on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump sent the U.S. stock market on a jagged round trip Wednesday after saying he had “talked about the concept of firing” the head of the Federal Reserve. Such a move could help Wall Street get the lower interest rates it loves but would also risk a weakened Fed

Citigroup (C) boosted its full-year net interest income guidance and now sees 2025 revenue at the high end of its previous guidance. The bank posted beats on both Q2 EPS and revenue. Its services business continued to shine, and banking revenue jumped 23% Y/Y.

U.S. stocks opened moderately higher on Wednesday, boosted by a tamer-than-expected inflation reading and blowout quarterly results from big banks.

The president floated the idea of firing the Fed chief to lawmakers, then said such a move was "very unlikely."