Fed Chair Jerome Powell will testify on Capitol Hill beginning Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee.
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Investors will be listening closely to Powell’s semiannual testimony for hints on where interest rates may be heading. He’ll appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
Ahead of that testimony, Dow Jones futures were down by 0.12%. The S&P 500 was lower by 0.18% and the Nasdaq Composite was off by 0.14%.
“I expect Powell to keep to the script today, which may not rule out volatility, in the dollar especially, but it should mean that we don’t see much of a material change in rates once the dust has settled,” said James Hughes, Chief market Analyst at AxiTrader. “It should be a similar story for equity markets as well, but such is the nervous feeling around global markets at the moment, the fear that the dollar could collapse if the Fed Chair isn’t hawkish enough is a real one so we must be cautious.”
Stocks advanced for a third straight session to start the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 399.28 points, or 1.58%, to 25,709.27. The S&P 500 advanced 32.30 points, or 1.18%, to 2,779.60. The Nasdaq Composite gained 84.07 points, or 1.15%, to 7,421.46.
The run of housing-related reports continues with the Case/Shiller home price report for December. New home sales dropped for the second consecutive month in January in a report released to start the week.
Macy’s will headline the earnings parade which will also include results from Autozone and homebuilder Toll Brothers released before the start of trading. Reports from Papa John’s, Hertz Global and Tivo will be released after the close of the markets.
In Asia, Japanese shares extended their recovery on Tuesday, hitting a three-week high. The Nikkei rose 1.1 percent to 22,389.86, its highest close since Feb. 5.
China stocks snapped a six-session winning streak. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.1 percent at 3,292.07.
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