Powell, Yellen set to testify before Congress
U.S. stock futures were trading in the red territory early Tuesday as investors marked time ahead of remarks from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for any new details regarding monetary policy.
In prepared remarks to be delivered to the Senate Banking Committee later today, Powell warned lawmakers that the causes of the recent surge in consumer prices may last longer than projected.
Last week, the Fed said at the conclusion of its policy meeting that it’s likely to begin tapering its pace of asset purchases this year, with market participants predicting that this could happen as early as November.
Yellen is expected to urge Washington legislators to raise the debt limit in order to prevent what she says would be a “catastrophic event” for the economy.
At around 5:00 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were indicted 90 points, or 0.26% lower to 34,653.
S&P 500 futures dropped 25.50 points, or 0.58% to 4,407.50 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 173.25 points, or 1.14% to 15,021.50.
Fed’s Kaplan and Rosengren depart in wake of trading controversy
Stick with the Federal Reserve, two of its top officials have announced plans to leave their positions after they came under scrutiny for trading securities that could have benefited from the intervention that the central bank made in financial markets last year.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren announced on Monday that he will retire on Sept. 30, citing concerns over a “worsening kidney problem.”
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said in a statement that he plans to step down on Oct. 8, saying that the “recent focus” on his financial disclosure risked “becoming a distraction” for the Fed’s broader mission
Kaplan and Rosengren’s resignations come after ethics questions were raised this month over some stock trades they made in 2020 as the central bank stepped in with easy-money policies meant to prop up the economy and calm financial markets.
Ford reveals plans to invest $11.4 billion towards EV and battery plants; shares pop
Meanwhile, shares of Ford (NYSE: F) were trading higher before Tuesday’s opening bell after the company along SK Innovation announced a major push toward electric vehicles with $11.4 billion investment and construction of four plants.
The two companies said Monday that they plan to spend the money to construct three battery factories and an assembly site for F-series electric trucks in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Ford intends to dedicate $7 billion while SK Innovation will contribute $4.4 billion to the massive project which will create 11,000 new jobs.
Nearly 5,000 of the jobs will be in Glendale, Kentucky while 6,000 will be in Stanton, Tennessee.
Ford said it now expects 40% to 50% of its global vehicle production volume will be fully electric by 2030.
As of this writing, shares of the automaker were marked 34 cents, or 2.40% higher to $14.50 each in the pre-market trading session.
