US stocks battle back into positive territory, US dollar loses ground

The risk mood is improving once again and the S&P 500 is higher in what's been a choppy day.

The comments from Powell were a non-factor as he reiterated a wait-and-see attitude that's nearly unanimous at the Fed.

I noted a comment from Citadel CEO Ken Griffin who said that Trump's bombastic tariff rhetoric is a mistake.

“From my vantage point, the bombastic rhetoric, the damage has already been done,” Griffin said Tuesday at UBS Financial Services Conference in Florida. “It’s a huge mistake to resort to this form of rhetoric when you’re trying to drive a bargain because ... it tears into the minds of CEOs, policymakers that we can’t depend upon America, as our trading partner.”

That kind of pushback has an audience in Washington as Griffin is a powerful Republican megadonor. I wonder if we see more Congressmen begin to voice objections.

The US dollar is also sliding on what might be a sense of a trade war that's not as intense as feared. That's a tricky proposition given that Trump has promised something on reciprocal tariffs today or tomorrow. At the same time, it comes after Trump's steel/aluminum tariffs were announced but won't go into effect until mid-March.

That suggests a period of negotiation that indicates tariffs are more of a threat than an instrument. I believe that's been the undercurrent in markets since last Monday's freakout over Mexico-Canada tariffs.

Today in US trading the euro, pound and Canadian dollar have been steady gainers.

The pound looks to end a three-day losing streak.