Wall Street trades mostly muted as Trump fires Fed Governor Cook

[analyzing stocks]
Marilyn Nieves

Wall Street trades in a muted fashion on Tuesday after President Donald Trump dismissed Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Monday following mortgage fraud allegation.

The blue-chip Dow (DJI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DJI]) hovers near even, while the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500 [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/SP500]) is up 0.1% and the tech focused Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/COMP:IND]) has moved up by 0.2%.

Looking out at the S&P 500 sectors, five of 11 segments find themselves trading up in the green, led by Industrials and Info Tech, while Energy has suffered the most so far.

In the bond market yields are relatively flat as the longer-end U.S. 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US10Y]) is even at 4.28%, and the shorter-end U.S. 2-year Treasury yield (US2Y [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/US2Y]) moved down 2 basis points to 3.69%.

Cook's firing comes amid talks about the Fed's independence, especially under the Trump administration.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is firing Cook [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4489007-trump-fires-fed-fed-governor-lisa-cook] because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

"Were Cook's dismissal to hold, it would open up another seat for Trump to fill on the seven-person Federal Reserve Board. With Stephen Miran nominated for the seat recently vacated by Governor Kugler and with Governors Waller and Bowman dissenting in favor of a rate cut at the July meeting, this would increase the prospects of a dovish majority on the Board," Deutsche Bank's Peter Sidorov said.

Over on the economic front, durable goods [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4489140-durable-goods-orders-slow-decline-in-july-better-than-expected] orders slowed their decline in July and came in better than expected.

FHFA house price gauge [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4489152-fhfa-house-price-gauge-dips-more-than-expected-in-june] dipped more than expected in June. Home prices [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4489169-home-prices-continue-to-moderate-in-june-sp-corelogic-case-shiller-hpi] continued to moderate in June, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller HPI.

Additionally, the consumer confidence [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4489192-consumer-confidence] report holds up better than expected in August. Also, the Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4489196-richmond-fed-manufacturing-index-improves-more-than-expected-in-august] improved more than what was anticipated for the month of August.

MORE ON MARKETS

*
Momentum leaders: 10 S&P 500 stocks soaring above their 200-day moving averages [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4489172-momentum-leaders-10-sp-500-stocks-soaring-above-their-200-day-moving-averages]

* ETF flows surge past $750B in 2025, eyeing second straight $1T year [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4488928-etf-flows-surge-past-750b-in-2025-eyeing-second-straight-1t-year]
* SA analyst upgrades/downgrades: PLTR, PANW, PEP, and HTZ [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4488921-sa-analyst-upgradesdowngrades-pltr-panw-pep-and-htz]
* All eyes are on Nvidia as key earnings could impact hundreds of ETFs [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4488891-all-eyes-are-on-nvidia-as-key-earnings-could-impact-hundreds-of-etfs]
* S&P 500: You're Less Diversified Than You Think, These ETFs Prove It [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4816324-sp500-you-are-less-diversified-than-you-think-these-etfs-prove-it]