S&P 500 is little changed Friday, heads for losing week as traders try to keep up with Trump flurry

The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Friday and on pace for a losing week as traders weighed the latest comments made by President Donald Trump related to the Federal Reserve and geopolitics.

The broad market index traded around the flatline, as did the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was also flat.

The three major averages hit their session lows after Trump delivered remarks in the White House Friday, in which he said he’d rather have National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett stay in his current role and might not be chosen to become the next Fed chair.

“I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said.

Hassett had been seen as a frontrunner to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term expires in May, but prediction markets showed former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh moved ahead in the race following the president’s remarks. Traders see Hassett as the more market-friendly option to replace Powell, with Wall Street expecting him to be more willing than Warsh to keep rates low.

“Whether it’s Hassett or someone else, I think the assumption that we — at least most of us — have is that whoever it’s going to be, this person is going to certainly have a political motive and not the more traditional, trying-to-be-fully-objective mindset in regards to leading the Fed,” said David Krakauer, vice president of portfolio management at Mercer Advisors. “That threat to the independence of the Fed is certainly, you know, a concern for us and everyone.”