White House lawyers were privately reviewing legal options for attempting to remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but senior advisers warned President Trump that attempting to do so would rattle markets. The plunge in stocks, bonds and the dollar matter to Trump, but there’s no assurance that he will be ruled by them, writes The Wall Street Journal's James Mackintosh. Trump said his team was "actively" talking to Beijing about trade, after the WSJ reported the U.S. was considering slashing its China tariffs—but Beijing played down hopes for an imminent rapprochement. And China's central bank said it would inject around $82 billion worth of liquidity into the financial system via its medium-term lending facility.

President Trump said this week that he never had any plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, accusing the media of pushing a false narrative that he was out to get the central bank chief.

But inside the White House, some senior officials took Trump’s recent public musings about terminating Powell seriously. As Trump’s criticism of the Fed chair ramped up over the last week, White House lawyers privately reviewed legal options for attempting to remove Powell, including whether they could do so for “cause,” according to people familiar with the matter.

The Federal Reserve’s first deep look at the economy since President Trump imposed tariffs on the rest of the world showed the U.S. still expanding steadily — but “pervasive” uncertainty threatens to curtail growth in the months ahead. “Economic activity was little changed since the previous report, but uncertainty around international trade policy was pervasive across reports,” the Fed’s so-called Beige Book said. This was the first Fed survey of the economy since late February, and the first to take into account the sweeping tariffs Trump has put in place. (MarketWatch)

China's central bank said it would inject 600 billion yuan, equivalent to $82.34 billion, worth of liquidity into the financial system via its medium-term lending facility on Thursday. The People's Bank of China has downplayed the instrument's role in guiding monetary policy in recent months. The central bank in March tweaked the pricing for its one-year loans to commercial lenders, saying it will offer a fixed quantity of loans priced at multiple rates via a bidding process. With 100 billion yuan of MLF loans due this month, the PBOC will inject a net 500 billion yuan via the one-year lending tool into markets. (Dow Jones Newswires)

• China Bets Trump Will Back Down on Tariffs
• China Says No Trade Talks Are Ongoing With the U.S.
• Xi Is Ratcheting Up China’s Pain Threshold for a Long Fight With Trump

President Trump has met his biggest opponent—and it’s the stock market. Since returning to Washington three months ago, Trump has toppled federal agencies, consolidated executive power, challenged global alliances and reconfigured America’s economic relationships around the globe. His moves have been met with protests, court challenges, dipping poll numbers and political opposition. Yet so far, the only force that has reliably prompted him to back down is Wall Street.

• Markets Think They Hold All the Cards Over Trump

Tipping quandaries are causing discomfort at checkout counters, sparking fights between spouses and sullying the enjoyment of eating out. More than 1,000 readers responded to a recent Wall Street Journal article showing that Americans are tipping less than they have in years.

8 a.m.: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva press briefing on the Global Policy Agenda
8 a.m.: Deutsche Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel participates in press breakfast at the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings
8:30 a.m.: Advance Report on Durable Goods
8:30 a.m.: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
9 a.m.: G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting
9 a.m.: PIIE discussion with Bank of England Deputy Governor Clare Lombardelli and ECB Executive Board Member Philip Lane
10 a.m.: Existing Home Sales
11 a.m.: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Survey of Tenth District Manufacturing
2:30 p.m.: Governor Talk with National Bank of Poland President Adam Glapinski during this week's IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings

10 a.m.: University of Michigan Survey of Consumers - final
10:15 a.m.: Atlantic Council fireside chat Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Member Megan Greene
1 p.m.: SEC Crypto Task Force roundtable

Trump's policy announcements have raised a credibility problem for the dollar, Unicredit Research forex strategist Roberto Mialich says in a note. "A further decline in the current dominance of the U.S. unit, especially in foreign exchange reserves and international payments, can be expected over the coming years," he says. The dollar is unlikely to lose its role as the world reference currency any time soon, although this is mostly due to a lack of serious alternatives. However, Trump's policies might reduce the global reliance on the dollar over time, he says. — Renae Dyer

• U.S. crude oil inventories rose for a fourth consecutive week amid higher net imports, while refineries ramped up their capacity use, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
• The European Union won’t negotiate changes to its value-added taxes or agricultural subsidies as part of trade discussions with the U.S., the bloc’s economy commissioner said early Wednesday.
• Business sentiment in Germany unexpectedly edged up in April, likely an endorsement from firms of government policies to boost spending on defense and investments, despite the market turmoil prompted by U.S. President Trump’s tariff barriers on Europe.
• South Korea’s economy contracted in the first quarter after large-scale wildfires and political turmoil over its president’s impeachment suppressed consumer sentiment and business activities.
• Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who left office in 2022, was indicted on bribery charges, a development that leaves all of the country’s leaders elected this century with post-presidencies ending in legal woes or suicide.

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.