FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence says Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will say this has been the sharpest economic downturn since World War II during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Tuesday.
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U.S. equity futures are trading cautiously after being higher overnight on optimism about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus and as states reopen for business.
The major futures indexes are indicating a slight decline when Wall Street begins trading on Tuesday.
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Investors are hoping that a working vaccine for COVID-19 can be developed. Massachusetts-based Moderna saw its stock jump 20 percent on Monday as an experimental vaccine showed early promise.
Investors were also encouraged by remarks over the weekend from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who expressed optimism that the U.S. economy could begin to recover in the second half of the year. Once the outbreak has been contained, he said, the economy should be able to rebound “substantially.”
Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are scheduled to appear before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee. The hearing is the first oversight session on the $2 trillion federal relief package approved in early March.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 24597.37 | +911.95 | +3.85% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 2953.91 | +90.21 | +3.15% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 9234.82807 | +220.27 | +2.44% |
The S&P 500 climbed 3.2 percent, its best day since early April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 3.9 percent and the Nasdaq composite rose 2.4 percent.
In Asian markets on Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei added 1.5 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.9 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.8 percent.
In Europe, London’s FTSE slipped 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.4 percent and France’s CAC fell 0.7 percent.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil added 70 cents to $32.52 a barrel. It jumped 8.1 percent to settle at $31.82 a barrel Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, is higher by 22 cents to $35.03 a barrel.
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Wall Street is hoping that the reopening of businesses and the relaxation of stay-at-home mandates continue without any major setbacks, paving the way for corporate profits to bounce back.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
