WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday played down concerns over the recent stock market plunge, referring it as a "normal market correction."
"I'm not overly concerned about the market volatility," said Mnuchin before lawmakers at a hearing on Capitol Hill.
On Monday, Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 4.6 percent, which triggered a worldwide stock market drop on the following day.
"I think you've seen a normal market correction, although large. And I think, again, there's just a disconnect in the short-term market -- markets move in both directions," Mnuchin told lawmakers.
He stressed that the fundamentals remained quite strong, citing policies, such as tax reform, are positive for long-term economic growth and corporate earnings.
In a separate hearing on the Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Jay Clayton, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said that Monday's market decline didn't signal a systemic risk.
"There is nothing to indicate that any of our systems didn't function as they were expected to function yesterday," Clayton told lawmakers.
In response to the stock market plunge, the White House on Monday said in a statement that the Trump administration is focusing on long-term economic fundamentals, which remain exceptionally strong, with strengthening U.S. economic growth, historically low unemployment, and increasing wages for American workers.
