S&P 500 hits highest since mid-February in upper-4400s as investors await remarks from Fed’s Powell

• US equity markets saw a choppy, indecisive start to the week against a backdrop of mostly negative Russo-Ukraine updates.
• The S&P 500 is trading a tad higher as investors await remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell from 1630GMT.
• The index managed to hit its highest level since mid-February.

US equity markets saw a choppy, indecisive start to the week, but, at the time of writing, have mostly been able to erase modest pre-market gains. Despite arguably negative news flow over the weekend – a lack of progress in Russo-Ukraine peace talks, chatter about an EU embargo on Russian oil exports – the S&P 500 is trading about 0.1% higher in the 4470 area after a dip back towards 4450 earlier in the session was bought into. The index managed to hit its highest level since mid-February at 4480. Directionless trade immediately ahead of remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 1630GMT isn’t too surprising – the Fed lifted interest rates by 25bps from near-zero for the first time in three years last Wednesday and new rate guidance suggested similar-sized hikes at every remaining meeting this year.

Powell is unlikely to deviate from this script, meaning there aren’t likely to be any meaningful trading opportunities in response to his comments. Nonetheless, the big man might give some more details on things like the Fed’s ideas about how it might conduct Quantitative Tightening, so will be worth keeping an eye on. Otherwise, a series of summits between European leaders are taking place this week, with the US President also showing his face, meaning geopolitics and, more specifically, Western sanctions on Russia will be a key theme this week.

In terms of the other major US indices, the Nasdaq 100 is currently flat in the 14,400 area, after a dip back to 14,250 earlier in the day was bought. The Dow is an underperformer as a result of steep downside in Boeing’s (-3.8%) share price, which makes up just under 4.0% of the index’s weighting after a 737-800 jet crashed in China. The index is currently trading about 0.5% lower, though for now remains well supported above the 34,500 level. The S&P 500 Volatility Index or VIX was last down at its lowest level in more than one month in the 23.00s, down about half a point on the day.