Stock futures are rising Tuesday after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at record highs in the previous session.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell heads to Capitol Hill today to deliver his twice-yearly report on the state of the economy and investors will be watching for any signs about the central bank’s forward path on interest rates.
Powell faces the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs today at 10 a.m. Eastern and the House Committee on Financial Services tomorrow.
For live coverage and analysis of the talks, click here.
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U.S. stock futures were rising early Tuesday after reaching new record highs at the start of the week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 futures gained 0.2%, while contracts tracking the technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.4%. The Dow fell Monday but the other two finished at new all-time highs.
While tech stocks are still the main driver of the indexes gains, the prospect for an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve has raised hopes for other sectors as well. Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks to Congress today, which could impact the market.
“As the U.S. earnings season approaches, investor expectations are on the rise,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “The mega-cap stocks, which have excelled over the first half, are anticipated to lead the charge,” but “if and when the Fed finally starts the long-anticipated rate-cutting cycle, there could be opportunities for small-cap and cyclical stocks to shine.”
Bond yields were little changed from Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond was at 4.291%. The yield on the 2-year note was at 4.639%.
