ISTANBUL
US stocks ended the week in huge losses, while the VIX index soared 23% as tension between US President Donald Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell escalated.
The Dow fell 1.23%, or 542.4 points, to close at 43,588.58.
The Nasdaq was down 2.24%, or 472.32 points, to 20,650.13, and the S&P 500 dropped 1.6%, or 101.38 points, to 6,238.01.
The Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the “fear index," jumped 23% to 20.55 as of 2012GMT.
Following the Fed’s decision Wednesday to keep its policy rate unchanged, Trump ramped up his criticism of Powell, calling him "TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job."
On Thursday, Trump urged the Fed board to "assume control" and do "WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE."
On Friday, two Fed officials issued statements to explain the reasons for voting to cut interest rates at this week's meeting.
Lastly, Adriana D. Kugler, a member of the board of the US Federal Reserve, submitted her resignation on Friday.
As well, Trump said Friday that he has ordered the dismissal of the expert in charge of the Labor Department's statistics division after the agency's data showed that job growth has been reduced to a crawl.
Trump claimed that the most recent job figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics were "rigged" and politically motivated.