(As of 7:15 am PST)
It’s another quiet start to
the trading session Tuesday, as investors appeared cautious ahead of Federal
Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s testimony before Congress this morning. The major US benchmarks opened near the
unchanged line with the Dow Jones Industrial Average inching up into the green
led by a surprisingly strong earnings report from Home Depot. The economic calendar
is light with a report on consumer confidence coming in weaker than expected
while the Case-Shiller Home Price index showed housing prices rising above
expectations. The key event of the day will be Yellen’s testimony on monetary
policy before Congress, which just kicked off minutes ago. Investors will be
particularly interested in Yellen’s remarks about the Fed’s plans to raise
short term interest rates and whether she will begin to introduce a more ‘hawkish’
tone. In the early going, Yellen has said the Fed, as a part of its communication
strategy, will drop the term ‘patient’ from its policy statement. In other
news, international markets are on pace for slight gains today. Gold is down
$10/oz. while oil is recovering slightly. Expect some back and forth action
throughout Yellen’s testimony this morning but for market direction to firm up later
in the session.
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