U.S. stocks rose slightly on Tuesday as growing expectations of a September interest rate cut kept the technology sector strong ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 40 points, or 0.1%, at 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 10 points, or 0.2%, and the S&P 500 was up 75 points, or 0.4%.
Powell’s testimony in focus
Trump is scheduled to begin his two-day testimony before Congress, beginning later Tuesday with the Senate session before the House session on Wednesday.
The Fed chairman is expected to provide further signals on monetary policy, with markets watching for any dovish signals, especially following weak inflation and employment data in recent weeks.
In addition to Powell’s testimony, several other Fed officials are also scheduled to speak this week, including members of the Open Markets Committee.
Investors will also be looking to key inflation data for June, due on Thursday, for further clues on the path of inflation. The Fed has repeatedly signaled that it needs more confidence that inflation is falling before it can start cutting interest rates.
The data showed that traders were pricing in a greater than 70% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut in September, up from 59% last week.
Confidence in an imminent interest rate cut sent the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to record highs on Monday.
Earnings season begins with banks
Attention will also be focused this week on the second-quarter earnings season, which is set to kick off with results from several major banks at the end of the week.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:), Wells Fargo (New York Stock Exchange:) and City Group General Electric (NYSE:) is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on Friday.
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) are also scheduled to participate in the stock this week.
Analysts, on average, expect S&P 500 companies to increase their total earnings per share by 10.1% in the second quarter, up from an 8.2% increase in the first quarter, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data.
Additionally, companies like Intel (NASDAQ:) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:) continued to make gains, each rising more than 2%, amid growing confidence in all things AI-related.
Crude oil prices fall after Beryl disappears
Crude oil prices fell on Tuesday after Hurricane Beryl caused less damage to a key U.S. oil-producing region than expected, easing concerns about supply disruptions.
By 09:35 ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 0.2% at $82.14 a barrel, while Brent crude was down 0.2% at $85.56 a barrel.
Market participants are also monitoring the situation in the Middle East, where crude prices were hit on Monday by hopes of a possible ceasefire in Gaza, which could ease concerns about disruption to global crude supplies.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is due to release its weekly crude stockpiles estimate later in the session, with expectations of a decline due to the summer driving season.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)