Investors' concerns over President Trump’s trade war and his threats of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stirred up market volatility Monday, putting the Dow Jones Industrial Average on course for its worst April since 1932. Trump reiterated his demand that the Fed cut interest rates, and blasted Powell.

President Trump is signaling that he will blame the Federal Reserve for any economic weakness that results from his trade war if the central bank doesn’t cut interest rates soon.

In the process, he might also be seeking to delegitimize the historically independent institution in a way that could undermine its effectiveness.

In a social-media post on Monday, Trump repeated last week’s demand that the Fed reduce interest rates now. “There is virtually no inflation,” he said, blasting Fed Chair Jerome Powell as “Mr. Too Late” and “a major loser.”

• Trump Renews Call for Rate Cut, Slams Fed Chair

The Trump rout is taking on historic dimensions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed almost 1,000 points on Monday and is headed for its worst April performance since 1932, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500’s performance since Inauguration Day is now the worst for any president up to this point in data going back to 1928, according to Bespoke Investment Group. Worries about trade restrictions and the prospect of President Trump firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have investors bracing for greater losses ahead.

“That kind of preemptive purchasing is probably even more pronounced on the business side,” Goolsbee said in an interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, specifically pointing to the auto industry stockpiling imported parts. (MarketWatch)

8:30 a.m.: G24 Ministers and Governors Meeting
9 a.m.: IMF World Economic Outlook
10 a.m.: Richmond Fed Business Activity Survey
7 p.m.: FRB Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari speaks at U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Summit

9:30 a.m.: Fed Listens event FRB St. Louis President Alberto Musalem and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller
9:45 a.m.: US Flash Manufacturing PMI
9:45 a.m.: US Flash Services PMI
10 a.m.: New Residential Sales
12 p.m.: Governor Talk with Central Bank of Argentina Governor Santiago Bausili during this week's IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings
2 p.m.: U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book
6:30 p.m.: Money Marketeers dinner event with Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack
7 p.m.: Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden and Bank of Korea Governor Chang Yong Rhee speak at 'Monetary Policy and Financial Stability in Inflationary Times' discussion
7 p.m.: G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors working dinner

The markets and the tech sector both need the U.S. and China to find a path forward on tariff negotiations so they can know what the rules of the trade game are looking ahead, Wedbush analysts say in a research note. If the White House doesn't get some deals done quickly, markets, the 10-year yield, the U.S. dollar, the price of gold and the economy will all start taking divergent paths in the coming weeks and months, the analysts say. They think this is a critical week ahead to get some trade deals on the board, because Wall Street has stopped caring about words and comments around "deal progress." — Dean Seal

• The U.S. broadened its trade dispute with China by imposing steep tariffs on solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries where mainland manufacturers have set up factories in recent years.
• America is the China of banking. When it comes to a global trade war, U.S. megabanks could become collateral damage. The longer a trade war goes on, though, the greater the threat to U.S. banks is likely to become.
• A deeper recession is in the cards for Canada despite the country so far skirting the worst of the U.S. tariffs that were threatened, Oxford Economics' Tony Stillo and Michael Davenport suggest. The pair trim GDP forecasts for Canada 0.4 percentage point to 0.7% growth in 2025 and by 0.1 point to a 0.2% contraction in 2026. (Dow Jones Newswires)
• The effects of President Trump’s new tariffs are starting to be felt across the world, preliminary South Korean trade data suggest, as Seoul prepares to begin negotiations with Washington.
• Chevron, BP and other oil companies are offshoring more specialized white-collar positions and related work to lower-cost labor pools in countries such as India, while cutting thousands of jobs elsewhere.

WSJ Pro Central Banking brings you central banking news, analysis and insights from WSJ’s global team of reporters and editors. This newsletter was compiled by markets reporter Vicky Ge Huang in New York. Send your tips, suggestions and feedback to vicky.huang@wsj.com.