U.S. Stocks End Higher, Gold Hits Record After Prosecutors Launch Powell Probe

Stocks edged higher, the dollar weakened and gold prices jumped to a record after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said President Trump was seeking to press the central bank into cutting interest rates with the threat of a criminal indictment.

The market moves point to reinvigorated concern about Fed independence and the strength of U.S. institutions more broadly. Prosecutors are probing Powell over his testimony last summer about the central bank’s renovations.