2024-03-06 09:01:06 ET
March 6 (UPI) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will deliver his semi-annual monetary policy report to the House Committee on Financial Services on Wednesday. Markets moved higher ahead of the testimony.
Powell will focus on domestic economic trends, longer-term Federal Reserve policy goals and monetary policy , as well as the Fed's economic projections.
He will speak to the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
Stock futures were up Wednesday morning and Treasury yields were a bit higher following Tuesday's stock market sell-off.
Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, dismissed speculation that Tuesday's stock market decline was related to what Powell will have to say before Congress Wednesday.
"If someone really 'knew' what Powell was going to say Wednesday morning, they would not solely express that information with stock trades," Colas wrote. "They would be shorting bonds, which would push the futures market to discount fewer rate cuts."
When Friday's jobs report comes out, the data will provide more indications of potential Fed interest rate cuts.
A continuing hot jobs market would likely prompt the Fed to hold interest rates steady, while a significant weakening of the jobs market could lead to cuts.
Principal Asset Management's Seema Shah told CNBC that unless the labor market cools, inflation progress will stop. And without inflation progress, Fed interest rate cuts are not likely.
In advance of Powell's testimony, economists are looking to what monetary policy will look like and whether inflation rates are still easing as they anticipate if, when and by how much interest rates might be cut this year.
According to Fed officials, at least some interest rate cuts are expected this year, but they have not indicated when as they continue to monitor economic data on inflation as well as the job market.
The Fed remains committed to returning inflation to the 2% target so inflation data that will likely drive whether interest rates are cut.