The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its gains firm slightly late-morning Wednesday after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson addressed reports that he was on the verge of leaving President Donald Trump’s administration and referred to POTUS as a “moron.” In a news conference at around 11 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Tillerson, a former head of Exxon Mobil Corp. , rebutted a report from NBC News, citing multiple senior administration officials, that claimed that he thought ill of the president and considered resigning. Tillerson reaffirmed his commitment to Trump in his conference, however, he didn’t appear to outright deny the claim that he called Trump a name, saying that it was “petty nonsense” to entertain those accusations. Most recently, the Dow was up 0.1% at 22,671, adding to the earlier advance, while the S&P 500 index was trading a touch higher at 2,537. The Nasdaq Composite Index was trading 0.1% higher, paring a morning loss, and was most recently at 6,536. All three benchmarks closed at all-time highs on Tuesday and have been bolstered by hope that a pro-market tax proposal will be passed in Congress.
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