Wall Street ends higher after brief slump on Powell firing claims

Good morning, I'm Choi Chi-hee, and this is The World Now.

Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday after an early drop triggered by reports that President Trump planned to dismiss Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which Trump quickly called "highly unlikely."

Markets tumbled mid-morning on Wednesday with the S&P and Nasdaq falling more than 1%, while the dollar plunged and Treasury yields spiked after Bloomberg cited an anonymous White House source suggesting Powell would lose his job.

The confusion grew amid concerns about Trump's repeated criticism of Powell for not cutting interest rates faster.

However, stocks recovered swiftly once Trump denied any plan to fire Powell.

The Dow rose 0.53%, the S&P 500 gained 0.32%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.26%.

Tech shares lifted the Nasdaq to another record close.