Stock futures fell Monday after the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, an apparent escalation by President Donald Trump in his attempt to pressure the central bank. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 347 points, or 0.7%. S&P 500 futures shed 0.6%, and Nasdaq-100 futures lost 0.8% as investors took off some risk on this new, more tense stage of the standoff between Trump and the Fed. Trump’s call to cap credit card rates for one year at 10% was also causing some market indigestion to start the week. Critics fear Trump’s plan to aid affordability would backfire and restrict lending, hurting consumers — along with bank profitability. Bank stocks led the losses in early trading with Citigroup down 4% in the premarket. JPMorgan and Bank of America were off by more than 2%. Capital One shares plunged 11% in early trading. Powell confirmed in an unusual direct video statement Sunday evening that federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation related to his Senate Banking Committee testimony on the renovation of Fed office buildings. Powell said the investigation was another attempt by Trump to influence the central bank’s monetary policy and he would not bow to the pressure. His term as chair is up in May. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead, monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” said Powell in the statement. The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street’s fear gauge, ticked higher in early trading, reflecting that traders added to protection in the options market as news of the Powell probe came out. “The market has seen this before and doesn’t like it. It’s not about Powell at this point, it’s about the independence of the Fed,” said Jay Woods, chief market strategist for Freedom Capital Markets. “So when news like this hits, the knee jerk reaction is to sell off.” The stock market in 2025 largely ignored Trump’s attempts to pressure the Fed as the central bank went on anyway to cut rates three times as inflation stabilized. But the Fed is largely expected to hold off on further cuts when it next meets later this month as it waits to see how the inflation picture and economy unfolds in the new year. Trump has made clear he would like to see the Fed continue to bring rates lower. “This is unambiguously risk off. We expect the dollar, bonds and stocks to all fall in Monday trading in a sell-America trade similar to that in April last year at the peak of the tariff shock and earlier threat to Powell’s position as Fed chair, with global investors applying a higher risk premium to U.S. assets,” said Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI. “Gold and other safe havens should rally,” added Guha. The fight over central bank independence is coming as the U.S. stock market trades at record highs. The S&P 500 and the 30-stock Dow both finished Friday’s session at new peaks, capping a winning week for the major benchmarks. Traders are preparing for the kickoff of earnings season, with major Wall Street banks set to report results in the days ahead. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are all scheduled to release quarterly numbers, offering investors fresh insight into the health of consumer spending, dealmaking activity and trading revenues. U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday as investors worried that a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell would threaten the central bank’s independence, and looked ahead to key inflation data for the week. The 10-year Treasury yield was more than 2 basis points higher at 4.197%. The 30-year bond yield moved up more than 3 basis points to 4.854%. South Korea’s Kospi closed at an all-time high Monday as Asia-Pacific markets rose, with investors also weighing a possible U.S. intervention in Iran. The Kospi index added 0.84% to 4,624.79, while the Kosdaq advanced 0.2% to 949.81. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.48% to 8,759.4. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 1.44% to close at 26,608.48, and mainland China’s CSI 300 climbed 0.65% to 4,789.92. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Oil prices dipped on Monday after Iran said it had total control following the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years, easing some concerns over supply ‍from the OPEC producer, while investors ‍also weighed efforts to resume ‍oil exports from Venezuela. Brent crude futures lost 45 cents, or 0.7%, to $62.89 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $58.63 a barrel, down 49 cents, or 0.8%. Gold ⁠prices surged about 2% to an all-time high of $4,600 per ounce on Monday, while silver ‍also set a new record, ‍as a criminal ‍probe by the Trump administration into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sent investors scuttling back into the safe haven. Spot gold jumped 1.9% to $4,596.05 per ounce, after ‌hitting ‌a record high of $4,600.33 earlier in the session. ​U.S. gold futures for February delivery gained 2.3% to $4,606.20. “With the Fed’s independence now openly contested, the ‘political risk’ discount usually reserved for emerging markets is bleeding into the U.S. dollar, driving investors ⁠toward hard assets,” said Zain Vawda, analyst at MarketPulse by OANDA. Wall Street futures dropped and the dollar fell by the most in three weeks on Monday as tensions between the Fed and the Trump administration escalated.