New Delhi, July 17 -- President Donald Trump sent the U.S. stock market on a jagged round trip Wednesday after saying he had "talked about the concept of firing" the head of the Federal Reserve. Such a move could help Wall Street get the lower interest rates it loves but would also risk a weakened Fed unable to make the unpopular moves needed to keep inflation under control.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3% after whipping through an earlier drop and subsequent recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 231 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.3% to its record set the day before.

Stocks had been rising modestly in the morning, before news reports saying that Trump was likely to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell quickly sent the S&P ...