Equity futures were mixed ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
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Dow Jones futures were down by 0.14%, The S&P 500 futures lost 0.07% and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.04%.
In the last session, shares saw early gains slide away, finishing up a losing month for stocks with a down day.
The Dow was down 380 points, or 1.5% to 25,029. The S&P 500 dropped 30 points, or 1.11% to 2,713, and the Nasdaq lost 57 points, or 0.78% to 7,273.
February snapped a 10-month winning streak for the Dow. In fact, the month was the worst for both the Dow and S&P since January 2016.
The day started for investors with the government reading on 4Q GDP coming in at 2.5%, which was right in line with expectations, but down from the initial reading of 2.6% and from the 3Q growth of 3.2%.
Investors will hang on every word from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell during today’s testimony. Markets were concerned about the number of future interest rate hikes following his comments during testimony earlier in the week when addressing a House committee.
In that testimony, Powell said that the U.S. economy was strong and that interest rate hikes will continue.
On the economic calendar, a full plate of reports are scheduled: Personal Income & Spending, Weekly Jobless Claims and a reading on manufacturing.
The automakers will also report their monthly sales numbers for February.
On the earnings front, the run of retailers reporting results includes: Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Kohl’s, Gap and Nordstrom.
European markets opened lower following disappointing earnings reports. London’s FTSE was off 0.3%, France’s CAC lost 0.3% and Germany’s DAX was down 0.7%
In Asia, investor sentiment tracked the Dow and S&P’s down month. Japan’s Nikkei fell to a two-week low, dropping 1.6% to 21,724.
In China, a positive report on factory growth helped to support stocks. The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.4% to 3,273.
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