Stock futures are little changed as Wall Street looks ahead to Powell’s second day of testimony: Live updates

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 29, 2024.

Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

Stock futures hovered near the flatline in overnight trading after the major averages posted their first winning session in three days and Wall Street looked ahead to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s second day of testimony on Capitol Hill.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 10 points, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures were little changed.

In extended trading, Victoria’s Secret plunged more than 25% after posting mixed quarterly results and issuing disappointing guidance.

All major averages finished higher Wednesday following back-to-back losing sessions. The S&P 500 rose 0.51%, while the Nasdaq Composite added about 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained nearly 76 points, or 0.2%.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors finished higher, led to the upside by utilities. At one point, New York Community Bancorp tumbled more than 40% during Wednesday’s session, but it finished with a 7.5% gain after announcing a $1 billion capital raise. Apple fell for a sixth consecutive day, bringing its weekly losses to nearly 6%.

Investors monitored the first of Fed Chair Powell’s appearances on Capitol Hill this week for more insight on the path ahead for interest rate cuts.

During Wednesday’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, the central bank chair indicated that the policy rate is at its “peak for this tightening cycle,” but reinforced that the Fed is not ready to begin reducing rates.

“The market digested the reality that Powell was on board with respect to cutting rates this year. The question now becomes when, how often and how many cuts,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of 50 Park Investments.

In addition to Powell’s remarks before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, Wall Street is also on the lookout for the latest jobless claims data, and trade balance and consumer credit data for January. This comes ahead of February’s closely watched jobs report slated for Friday.

Earnings from Broadcom, Costco Wholesale and Kroger are also on deck.