WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday backed off from threats to fire US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell after days of intensifying criticisms of the central bank chief for not cutting interest rates.

“I have no intention of firing him,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” he added.

The de-escalation drew an immediate thumbs up from Wall Street, as equity index futures jumped by nearly 2% on the resumption of trading on Tuesday evening. Stocks, bonds and the US dollar had all slumped on Monday af-ter Mr. Trump over the Easter holiday weekend repeatedly attacked Mr. Powell for not cutting interest rates further since the president resumed office in January.

“Whether this reflects Monday’s brutal foretaste of what would happen in markets if he did try to fire Powell, or was the plan all along, it is a clear positive,” wrote Evercore ISI Vice Chairman Krishna Guha. “It materially reduces the likelihood of worst case outcomes including stagflation and the morphing of the tariff crisis into a sovereign debt crisis, though these risks remain.”

Also during his question-and-answer volley with reporters on Tuesday, Mr. Trump expressed optimism that a trade deal with China could “substantially” cut tariffs, which also provided a boost for investors. He said a deal would result in “substantially” lower tariffs on Chinese goods, suggesting that a final deal will not “be anywhere near” current tariff rates. But “it won’t be zero,” he added.

The combination of the rocky rollout of Mr. Trump’s tariffs and, more recently, his repeated barbs at Mr. Powell and the Fed had rattled investors and intensified selling of US assets including stocks, US Treasuries and the dollar.

Mr. Trump’s broadsides were often accompanied by threatening remarks, such as last week’s social media posting that Mr. Powell’s termination as Fed chair “cannot come fast enough” and more personal jabs, such as calling Mr. Powell “a major loser.” The threats spooked financial markets that view the Fed’s independence as critical to underpinning its credibility as the world’s most influential central bank and a cornerstone of global financial stability.

But while Mr. Trump seems to have set aside those threats for now, his criticisms of Fed rate policy remain just as pointed.

“We think that it’s a perfect time to lower the rate, and we’d like to see our chairman be early or on time, as opposed to late,” Mr. Trump said.

OLD FEUD
Mr. Trump’s sour grapes with Powell date back to the Republican’s first term in the White House. Mr. Trump elevated Mr. Powell from a Fed Board of Governors member to the central bank’s head but was soon irritated by on-going rate increases under Mr. Powell’s watch. Mr. Trump openly mused about firing Mr. Powell, but was ultimately dissuaded by his advisers.

Whether Mr. Trump has the authority is unclear. Mr. Powell, for his part, insists that the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 that created the central bank will not allow it. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has said that if he wanted Mr. Powell out, he would be gone “real fast.”

The law stipulates that the seven Fed governors, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate to staggered 14-year terms, can only be removed for “cause” — long thought to mean misconduct, not policy disagreement.

That said, the law omits reference to limits on removal from its description of the four-year term of the Fed chair, who is one of the seven governors.

Mr. Trump’s harsh rhetoric came alongside court cases now proceeding over his firing of officials from other independent federal boards and agencies. Those are being watched closely in Fed circles as potential proxies for whether Mr. Trump has the authority to fire Fed officials long presumed to be able to pursue monetary policy free from political influence.

The Fed lowered interest rates by a percentage point late last year to the current range of 4.25% to 4.5%, but has held them unchanged in the two policy meetings convened since Mr. Trump returned to the White House. The Fed’s next rate-setting meeting is in two weeks.

Fed policy makers are concerned that the aggressive tariffs rolled out by Mr. Trump since early February could rekindle inflation that they had already found harder than expected to return to their 2% target. At the same time, policy makers worry their job could be complicated further if tariffs slow growth and drive up unemployment while also pressuring up inflation.

The result is a wait-and-see posture regarding further rate cuts, though most policy makers still see some rate reductions as likely later this year.

Interest rate futures traders pared bets on Fed policy easing after Mr. Trump’s remarks, and now are pricing three quarter-point interest-rate cuts by year’s end, versus the four seen as earlier as more likely.

So far, “hard data” measures of the US economy such as employment and retail sales reports have shown resilience, but surveys of households and businesses have shown rapidly deteriorating confidence. The consensus now among economists is that risks are skewed broadly to the downside from here as the effects of tariffs begin to stack up.

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its outlook for both US and global growth this year, with Mr. Trump’s tariffs policy the central reason behind the downgrade. — Reuters

VATICAN CITY — The body of Pope Francis, laid out in an open coffin, was carried in a solemn procession on Wednesday from his residence within the walls of the Vatican City to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Red-hatted cardinals, priests, candle-carrying friars and helmeted Swiss Guards walked slowly into the vast, sunlit esplanade as a male choir chanted psalms and prayers in Latin while the great bells of the basilica tolled.

The body of the 88-year-old pope, who died two days ago in his room at the Santa Marta guesthouse after suffering a stroke, was held aloft on a wooden platform by 14 white-gloved, black-suited pallbearers.

“Dear brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow we now accompany the mortal remains of our Pope Francis to the Vatican Basilica,” said the Irish-American cardinal Kevin Farrell at the start of the ceremony.

As the coffin crossed St. Peter’s Square, a crowd of several thousand broke into repeated applause — a traditional Italian sign of respect at such events.

Pope Francis, who spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year being treated for double pneumonia, last appeared in public on Sunday, when he surprised pilgrims by being driven around the packed square in his white, open-topped popemobile.

His body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica until Friday evening, allowing faithful to pay their respects.

“He’s like a member of the family. Somebody very close to our hearts, somebody who made the church very accessible to everybody and inclusive to everybody,” said Rachel Mckay, a pilgrim from Britain who was in the square.

His funeral is set for Saturday and will draw heads of state and government from around the world, including US President Donald J. Trump, who clashed repeatedly with the pope on social issues.

Leaders from Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Ukraine, European Union institutions and Francis’ home nation of Argentina have also confirmed their presence.

At least 200,000 people are expected to attend the outdoor service, the head of Italy’s civil protection agency, Fabio Ciciliano, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

A conclave to choose the new pope is not expected to start before May 6, with cardinals now flocking to Rome only due to decide the date following what are often prolonged discussions.

There is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis, although British bookmakers have singled out Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines, and Pietro Parolin, from Italy, as early favorites.

In the meantime, in the period known as the “sede vacante” (vacant seat) for the global Catholic Church, cardinal Farrell is in charge of day-to-day affairs. — Reuters

BUENOS AIRES — Argentina-born Pope Francis, who died on Monday, is being honored at his local hometown soccer club in Buenos Aires, San Lorenzo de Almagro, where the football-loving head of the Roman Catholic Church remained a member during his 12-year papacy.

Fans from the first-tier Primera División club started gathering from Monday at the club’s chapel to the south-west of the Argentine capital to bid farewell to their best-known member.

“The pope leaves an unbreakable legacy,” San Lorenzo Club President Marcelo Moretti told Reuters. “For all San Lorenzo fans, he was a source of great pride. It is a very sad day.”

At the chapel fans lit candles near a statue of Francis adorned with the team’s red and navy blue colors.

San Lorenzo fans took to social media on news of the pope’s death to point out that his club membership number — 88235N-0 — coincided exactly with his age and the time of death.

“He died at 88 years old, at 2:35am (in Buenos Aires, 0535 GMT) and was member 88235. It really caught my attention,” wrote one San Lorenzo fan on X.

The club confirmed the pope’s membership number to Reuters.

Special commemorative jerseys will be worn for Saturday’s match against Rosario Central, Mr. Moretti said, with players hoping to secure victory for the pontiff, whose funeral will be held in the Vatican on the same day.

Several other Argentine teams suspended matches on Monday as a mark of respect.

Oscar Lucchini, who runs the club’s chapel, showed Reuters old photos of Francis holding a San Lorenzo jersey as well as a print-out of his club membership card. Mr. Lucchini’s colleague Laura Magrino held up a team shirt made in honor of the pope.

‘GREAT EMOTION’
Mr. Moretti said he had met Francis several times, most recently last September to ask permission to name a new stadium after him in the Boedo neighborhood where the club is based.

“He accepted, with great emotion,” Mr. Moretti told Reuters.

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio into an Italian migrant family in Buenos Aires in 1936, at a time when soccer had already become Argentina’s most popular sport, said author Jimmy Burns, biographer of Francis: The Pope of Good Promise.

Soccer was especially popular in less affluent neighborhoods of Buenos Aires through clubs like San Lorenzo, which had been founded by a Catholic priest in 1908 and was Francis’ chosen team growing up.

The club became the 1946 champions, Mr. Moretti said, going on to secure several stunning victories during a European tour the following year which brought the team international attention.

Francis became a life-long soccer fan despite rarely playing himself in his younger days due to health issues.

“He tended to read rather than play sport,” Mr. Burns told Reuters, but he liked watching games live at San Lorenzo or catching the occasional World Cup match on TV.

After becoming pope in 2013, Francis never returned to Argentina but he hosted many of the country’s sporting greats at the Vatican, including soccer icons Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona. Sport is a great leveler, Francis once said.

Mr. Maradona, who died in 2020, said Pope Francis had restored his Catholic faith after they met in 2014. Mr. Messi would later be granted a papal audience of his own from which he said he also emerged spiritu-ally refreshed. — Reuters