S&P 500 erases earlier losses and remains above 3750 as Powell testifies in the US Congress

• On Wednesday, US equities are rising between 0.24% and 0.87%.
• Fed’s Chair Powell: “Fed is strongly committed to bringing inflation back down, moving expeditiously to do so.”
• The Nasdaq Composite leads the pack, followed by the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones.
• The greenback and US Treasury yields are falling despite the Fed’s Chief Powell’s hawkish commentary.

US equities remain in the green despite a hawkish speech by the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who takes the stand at the US Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday as the North American session begins.

At the time of writing, the S&P 500 jumps from hostile territory, recording minimal gains of 0.34%, sitting at 3,780.63, while the Nasdaq Composite leads the pack climbing 0.87%, up at 11,165.14. In the meantime, the Dow Jones Industrial (DJIA) is rising 0.24%, advancing to 30,602.45.

Speaking about sectors, the gainers are Consumer Discretionary, up 1.38 %, followed by Communications Services and Real Estate, each printing gains of 1.27% and 1.25%, respectively. The main lossers are Energy, Materials, and Industrials, dropping by 3.02 %, 0.84%, and 0.30% each.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index extends its weekly losses and is tumbling towards 104.165, down by 0.25%. US Treasury yields remain high but down, and the US 10-year note hovers around 3.149%, falling twelve basis points.

Fundamentally nothing has changed, though stocks keep pushing higher, despite the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell saying that the Fed is “strongly committed to bringing inflation back down.” Furthermore, he added that data and decisions would determine the pace of rate hikes, which will be made “meeting by meeting.”

In the commodities complex, the US crude oil benchmark, WTI plummets 4.53%, exchanging hands at $104.47 BPD. At the same time, precious metals like gold (XAU/USD), grind higher by 0.26%, trading at $1843.70 a troy ounce.

SP 500 Chart

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