Stocks rallied off their session lows, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting new all-time intraday highs as investors shook off the Department of Justice opening a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The 30-stock index regained 86.13 points to 49,590.20, helped by gains in Walmart and some technology stocks.
The much-broader index poked up 11.04 points to 6,977.32
The NASDAQ recovered 62.56 points to 23,733.90.
Trump’s call to cap credit card rates for one year at 10% was also causing some market indigestion to start the week. Critics fear Trump’s plan to aid affordability would backfire and restrict lending, hurting consumers — along with bank profitability.
Bank stocks were the hardest hit Monday, with Citigroup down 3%. JPMorgan and Bank of America were off by more than 1%. Capital One shares slid 7%.
Palantir rose almost 1% on an upgrade from Citi, leading a gain in some tech stocks. AMD and Oracle were also higher.
Powell confirmed in an unusual direct video statement Sunday evening that federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation related
to his Senate Banking Committee testimony on the renovation of Fed office buildings.
Powell said the investigation was another attempt by Trump to influence the central bank’s monetary policy and he would not bow to the pressure. His term as chair is up in May.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury dipped slightly, raising yields to 4.19%, from Friday’s 4.17%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 39 cents to $59.51 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices skyrocketed $105.10 to $4,605.60.
