Listen: NYSE Traders Cheer as News Breaks of Bannon’s Ouster
CNBC caught the spontaneous moment amid breaking reporting about Trump’s most controversial strategist.
CNBC/Screenshot
As news broke Friday that President Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon has been ousted from the White House, traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange broke out in cheers and applause.
While CNBC’s Power Lunch hosts discussed how The New York Times reported that the notoriously far-right, nationalist adviser had submitted his resignation several weeks ago, clapping and hollering can be heard in the background.
Aside from the apparent vocal optimism, news of Bannon’s departure seemed to lead to stock-trading optimism.
Wall Street recovered earlier Friday losses after the news broke, Reuters reported. Per CNBC, “The Dow Jones industrial average traded just 10 points lower, jumping 100 points off its lows. The Nasdaq composite outperformed, rising 0.2 percent.”
“I think it was the rumor of Steve Bannon getting fired,” Peter Costa, president of Empire Executions, told Reuters.
“There’s a lot of hopeful people thinking that, ‘you know what, he has been a divisive figure in the White House... Getting rid of him might be a good deal for the president.’”