Trump’s Decision Day on Fed Pick Poses Stress Test for Traders

A television station broadcasting Jerome Powell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Bond investors who have spent months wagering that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s successor will push for interest-rate cuts face a stress test of those bets with President Donald Trump’s choice expected any day.

Yields on short-term US notes have consistently outperformed those on longer-maturity debt over the past year on the assumption that all four finalists for the job would seek the lower borrowing costs Trump has repeatedly sought.