US equity markets were on the rise in premarket activity on Wednesday as traders absorbed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell regarding monetary policy. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each edged up by 0.2% before the market opened, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a modest gain of 0.1%. In contrast, Asian markets were a mix of slight declines and steadiness, whereas European markets were largely positive by midday.
Powell’s hearing before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on Tuesday revealed that although inflation has shown signs of improvement, more robust data is necessary for the Fed to consider rate cuts. Powell is set to address the House Committee on Financial Services at 10 am ET. Additionally, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee and Fed Governor Michelle Bowman are scheduled to speak at 2:30 pm, with Fed Governor Lisa Cook set to provide a speech at 7:30 pm.
The day’s economic calendar features the weekly bulletin on mortgage applications at 7 am, followed by the May wholesale inventories report at 10 am, and the domestic petroleum inventory report at 10:30 am.
In corporate news, WD-40 (WDFC), PriceSmart (PSMT), and AZZ (AZZ) are all set to reveal their latest financial results after the market closes.
As the market prepared for the day, bitcoin rose by 1.5% to reach $58,637, West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 0.3% to $81.65 per barrel, yields on 10-year Treasuries decreased by 2.5 basis points to 4.273%, and gold increased by 0.6% to $2,381 per ounce.
