Futures gain ahead of Powell's testimony, economic data
(Reuters) — U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday as investors await testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before Congress that could help determine the central bank's monetary policy path.
Powell kicks off two days of testimony with a hearing at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT) before the House Financial Services Committee, explaining to lawmakers why he is confident price pressures will keep easing without upending the job market or conversely why the window for a «soft landing» may be narrowing.
«Powell is likely to stick to the narrative of patience and data dependency this week, but given the intense market focus on Fed timing, there is potential for a market reaction, particularly in the Q&A,» said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.
Wall Street indexes closed more than 1% lower on Tuesday amid weakness in market leaders Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and as investor focus shifted to Powell and the Fed after signs of sticky inflation in February dampened hopes of early interest rate cuts.
Traders see a 69.1% chance of the first rate cut this year in June, as per CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) FedWatch tool.
Investors will also be tracking private payrolls and job openings data, due later in day, ahead of the crucial nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.
At 04:59 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 87 points, or 0.23%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 18.25 points, or 0.36%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 126.25 points, or 0.7%.
Megacap growth and technology stocks rose in premarket trading, with Tesla recovering 1.3% after a 3.9% slide in the previous session.
U.S.-listed shares of China's e-commerce group JD (NASDAQ:JD).com rose 6.4% ahead of quarterly results.
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