Dow struggles to extend gains as investors await Powell speech

U.S. stocks traded near unchanged early Tuesday as investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the economic outlook.

What are major benchmarks doing?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, 0.39% was up 57.08 points, or 0.2%, at 28,205.72, while the S&P 500 SPX, 0.11% rose 1.53 points, or less than 0.1%, to 3,410.16. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, 0.01% was off 12.06 points, or 0.1%, at 11,320.43.

The Dow on Monday rose 465.83 points or 1.7% to finish at 28,148.64, while the S&P 500 rose 60.19 points, or 1.8%, to close at 3,408.63. The Nasdaq finished at 11,332.49, up 257.47 points, or 2.3%.

What’s driving the market?

Powell is scheduled to deliver a speech on the economic outlook to the National Association of Business Economics at 10:40 a.m. Eastern in Washington D.C.

“The main point of interest will be what he has to say about Congress’ failure to come up with another stimulus package”, said Marshall Gittler, head of research investment at BDSwiss Group, in a note. “He and his colleagues have been quite vocal about the limits of monetary policy and the need for further fiscal support.”

Stocks logged strong gains on Monday, tied in part to rising optimism over another round of coronavirus aid spending, bouncing back after stocks fell Friday following President Donald Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization. Trump late Monday left Walter Reed Medical Center after a three-night stay. Trump’s doctors said the president wasn’t “out of the woods” but that his condition had improved.

Read: Trump tweets ‘don’t be afraid of COVID,’ sparking heated Twitter exchanges

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told Democratic congressional leaders late Monday that stimulus talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were going “very slowly,” Politico reported. Pelosi and Mnuchin are scheduled to speak again Tuesday, the report said.

In economic data, the U.S. trade deficit climbed almost 6% in August to $67.1 billion, the third widest gap on record, reflecting a continuing struggle by American exporters to recover all the ground lost in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. Economists polled by MarketWatch has forecast a $66.7 billion trade gap.

Data on August job openings is due at 10 a.m.

Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is slated to deliver a speech on machine learning to the Global Interdependence Center at noon, while Atlanta Fed Raphael Bostic will deliver remarks at Broward College at 2 p.m. and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will speak to the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce at 6 p.m.

See: Trump’s coronavirus recovery, stimulus hope, election clarity: What’s really driving the market?

Which companies are in focus?

• Shares of Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. ALXN, +1.98% rose 3%, after the biopharmaceutical company said it expected to raise its 2020 revenue guidance by more than $200 million, when it reports third-quarter results.

What are other markets doing?

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, 0.783% rose 2.3 basis point to 0.779%. Yields and bond prices move in opposite directions.

In global equities, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.89% rose 0.9%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +0.52% gained 0.5%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 Europe SXXP, +0.31% and London’s FTSE 100 UKX, +0.10% were each up 0.4%.

Gold edged higher, with the December contract GOLD, -1.14% up 0.2% on Comex. Oil futures added to big gains scored on Monday, with the U.S. benchmark CL.1, +3.87% up more than 3%.

Reprinted from marketwatch, the copyright all reserved by the original author.

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