PARIS (Reuters) – The New York Stock Exchange opened very slightly lower on Tuesday ahead of the hearing of Jerome Powell, the chairman of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), before Congress on the bank’s monetary policy. central.
In early trading, the Dow Jones index lost 10.99 points, or 0.03%, to 33,420.45 points and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.08% to 4,044.84 points.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.09%, or 10.696 points, to 11,665.041.
Jerome Powell, who is due to speak from 15:00 GMT before the US Senate Banking Committee, could provide investors with clues on the path of interest rates after recent macroeconomic data showed a reacceleration in inflation, a tight labor market and a still dynamic economy.
“The focus will be on Powell’s perception of the US labor market and whether the FOMC (the Fed’s monetary policy committee) thinks economic conditions have improved or deteriorated since the last FOMC meeting. Fed,” wrote Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.
For Michael Hewson, the markets will also want to know if Jerome Powell persists in his remarks that “disinflation has begun”.
In the meantime, the yield on ten-year Treasuries fell 2.5 basis points to 3.95% and that of two years, the most sensitive to inflation, fell 1.4 points to 4.87 % after hitting a peak since 2007 at 4.94% last week.
Money markets are pricing the likelihood of a 50 basis point Fed rate hike this month at 28%, while the cost of credit could peak at 5.46% by September.
On the stock market, in individual values, Meta Platforms gained 2.29% in response to information that the group will again cut thousands of jobs this week after having already reduced its workforce by more than 11,000.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive fell 8.08% after announcing a $1.3 billion bond issue to bolster its liquidity.
WeightWatchers jumped 27.64% after the group announced it was buying the Sequence telehealth platform for $132 million, which will allow it to enter the prescription obesity drug sector.
(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)
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