Powell dovish comments are catalyst for the move higher

The US major stock indices were projecting a lower opening before prepared text from Fed Chair Powell. His dovish slant, has reversed that trend and US major stock indices are opening with decent gains.

A snapshot of the market at the moment currently shows:

  • The S&P index, +15.91 points or 0.53% at 2995.54. The indexes trading at session highs
  • The NASDAQ is up 63.82 points or 0.78% at 8205.55
  • The Dow is up 136 points or 0.51% at 26919.62

In the US debt market, the yield curve continues to flatten with the 2 year down 5.5 basis points while the 30 year is up 1.0 basis points

  • Spot gold is up $12 or 0.85% at $1409.30. A lower dollar is bullish (generally) for gold
  • WTI crude oil futures are up $1.68or 2.91% at $59.51. Inventory data will be key today. The private data released late yesterday showed a large inventory draw of over 8.0M barrels.

The Fed chair will begin his testimony at 10 AM ET (or there abouts). At the same time, the BOC will likely announce no change in rates. BOC's Poloz will hold a presser at 10:15 AM ET