(Bloomberg) — Stock futures fluctuated as traders awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s Senate Banking Committee hearing, with the central bank set for its sharpest turn toward monetary policy tightening in decades.
S&P 500 contracts came off Tuesday’s highs, trading little changed. In his prepared remarks, Powell said the Fed will prevent higher inflation from becoming entrenched, without mentioning any specific policy actions. Investors are betting officials will begin raising its benchmark federal funds rate in March, two years after cutting it to nearly zero at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020.
International Business Machines Corp. slumped after UBS Group AG recommended selling the shares of the technology giant. CVS Health Corp. said its full-year adjusted earnings for 2021 would be in a higher range than currently expected by analysts, sending stocks higher. American Airlines Group Inc. will report higher revenue in the fourth quarter than analysts expected as the carrier’s main operations escaped the worst of winter holiday cancellations.
The Nasdaq 100 Index narrowly escaped further selling pressure on Monday after briefly trading below its key support level of 15,543, but closing above it. The level of 15,900 is the next key resistance to watch, according to DayByDay technical analyst Valerie Gastaldy. If the tech-heavy gauge stays below that, it’ll signal an “easy bearish call,” according to DayByDay, but if the Nasdaq 100 can rise above it, then the index will be able to reclaim its record high, the strategist said.
Here are some key events this week:
- EIA crude oil inventory report on Wednesday.
- China PPI, CPI on Wednesday.
- U.S. CPI, Fed Beige Book on Wednesday.
- U.S. initial jobless claims, PPI on Thursday.
- U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing for Lael Brainard, nominated as Fed vice-chair on Thursday.
- Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker,
- Chicago Fed President Charles Evans speak on Thursday.
- Bank of Korea policy decision and briefing on Friday.
- Wells Fargo, Citigroup, JPMorgan due to report earnings on Friday.
- U.S. business inventories, industrial production, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, retail sales on Friday.
- New York Fed President John Williams speaks Friday.
For more market analysis, read our MLIV blog.
Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- Futures on the S&P 500 were unchanged as of 8:56 a.m. New York time
- Futures on the Nasdaq 100 were little changed
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed
- The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.8%
- The MSCI World index rose 0.1%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
- The euro was unchanged at $1.1326
- The British pound was little changed at $1.3572
- The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 115.63 per dollar
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 1.77%
- Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.04%
- Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 1.17%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.3% to $79.26 a barrel
- Gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,804.70 an ounce
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