LIVE MARKETS-US stocks tumble with Trump-Fed tension

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U.S. STOCKS TUMBLE WITH TRUMP-FED TENSION

U.S. indexes are lower early on Monday after President Donald Trump's renewed attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sparked concerns about the central bank's independence and rattled investors grappling with an escalating trade war.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Friday that Trump and his team would study whether firing the Fed chair was an option, a day after Trump's comments that Powell's "termination cannot come fast enough."

All S&P 500 index .SPX sectors are lower with consumer discretionary .SPLRCD, tech .SPLRCT and energy .SPNY taking the biggest hits.

Staples .SPLRCS, down just 0.4%, is holding up the best.

The Mag 7 .MAG are among weaker groups, while gold stocks .HUI are on the plus-side.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar index =USD is hitting its lowest level since March 2022, while gold XAU= has hit fresh record highs.

Here is a snapshot of where markets stood at about 0945 a.m. EDT:

(Terence Gabriel)

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