U.S. stock futures were slightly higher on Tuesday as traders awaited the latest comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the state of the economy.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures and S&P 500 futures traded flat, while Nasdaq-100 futures rose 0.1%.
Dick’s Sporting Goods shares rose in premarket trading on a strong holiday quarter. International WWalso jumped 14% as it shared plans to acquire subscription telehealth platform Sequence, which focuses on chronic weight management, also known as WeightWatchers.
On deck is Fed Chair Powell’s congressional testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he will comment on where he sees the US economy and what he expects interest rates to be from here.
The commentary will likely determine the market’s near-term direction, or at least, in an action-packed week for economic data that ends with Friday’s February jobs report.
“Powell’s testimony to Congress and China’s disappointing growth target should keep risk assets lower this week as we await Kuroda’s final BoJ meeting and Friday’s US payrolls report,” Barclays’ Ajay Rajadhyaksha wrote in a note on Monday.
The major averages are coming out of the session with modest gains. The Dow rose 0.1% on Monday, along with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite.
Shares have been higher since Goldman Sachs began coverage of Apple with a buy rating, lifting both the iPhone maker and the broader market. Apple makes up about 7% of the S&P 500. Other mega-cap tech stocks like Alphabet and Microsoft have also improved.
However, the major averages gave up most of those gains after a modest rise in bond yields. Investors were worried after the movements in the bond market 10-year Treasury yield recently crossed the 4% key threshold.
Data on wholesale inventories for January will be released after the opening bell on Tuesday, giving investors insight into the consumer economy. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a 0.4% decline, compared with a 0.1% increase in the previous reading.
Consumer credit data expected Tuesday afternoon is expected to rise by $22 billion in January, according to Dow Jones consensus estimates. This follows an increase of $11.6 billion in the previous month.
