The Dow logged its first record close of the year and bond yields fell after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck an upbeat tone on a September interest-rate cut.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been under pressure from President Trump to lower the central bank's benchmark interest rate.

Now that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that the central bank could soon cut its key interest rate, he faces a new challenge: how to do it without seeming to cave to the White House’s demands.