Dow futures jump 500 points after Trump says he doesn’t plan to get rid of Fed chief: Live updates

Stock futures climbed on Tuesday evening, with investors hoping to extend gains from the regular session.

Futures tied to the S&P 500 popped 1.6%, while Nasdaq 100 futures surged 1.8%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 537 points, or 1.4%.

The rally in futures came after President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that he has "no intention" of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term at the helm of the central bank will end in May 2026.

The comment is a reversal of sorts for Trump, who fired off barbs against Powell as recently as Monday, calling the central bank leader a "major loser" and demanding that interest rates come down.

Stocks are coming off of a winning session, with the 30-stock Dow surging more than 1,000 points to end a four-day losing streak. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 2%.

Investor sentiment in the regular session appeared to be aided by comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that hinted at the possibility of "de-escalation" in Trump's trade war with China. "No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable," Bessent said while speaking with a group of investors on Tuesday at a meeting hosted by JPMorgan Chase, according to a person in the room.

The Treasury secretary's comments appeared to soothe investors' worries around trade policy tensions. Although Trump earlier this month issued a 90-day pause on much of his "reciprocal" tariffs, he left in place a 145% duty on China. Beijing responded with a retaliatory tariff of 125%, which further escalated already shaky relations between the U.S. and China.

Even as stocks surged on Tuesday, jittery investors have been flocking toward safe-haven assets in recent weeks. Gold futures are up more than 8% in April, settling down 0.17% at $3,419.40.

"There is a ton of money hiding out in gold at the moment, so there's plenty of unproductive money that will find its way back into the market at some point," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. "The money is there, it's just yellow at the moment."