(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose in a thin trading session, with investors wading through remarks from Federal Reserve officials for clues on their inflation outlook and the pace of monetary tightening.
Most major groups in the S&P 500 advanced, with retailers and technology companies leading the charge. Volume was 20% below the average of the past month. Bitcoin rebounded after earlier tumbling below $30,000 for the first time since January. GameStop Corp. climbed after the video-game retailer raised $1.1 billion in share sales. Splunk Inc., an infrastructure software company, soared as private equity firm Silver Lake will invest $1 billion.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell was set to testify before the House Select Subcommittee at 2 p.m. Washington time, with the written remarks prepared for the appearance highlighting his views that the pickup in inflation is transitory. The hearing could shed more light on how much longer the central bank should keep its policy on an emergency footing — especially after the recent hawkish pivot by Fed officials.
A discussion about raising interest rates is still “way off in the future” as the central bank begins debating tapering its bond-buying program, according to New York Fed President John Williams. Meantime, his Cleveland counterpart Loretta Mester said very low rates for a long period of time and unconventional policy tools such as asset purchases can lead to too much risk-taking and financial-stability issues.
Despite the recent flurry of remarks by Fed speakers, TD Ameritrade’s JJ Kinahan said there isn’t really anything that’s been said that changes the narrative since last week’s central bank decision.
“The stock market will continue to be in a tug-of-war until there’s more clarity,” said Kinahan, chief market strategist at the firm. “Until then, you’re going to see this pattern. For a couple of days everyone loves equities, for a couple of days everybody hates equities.”
For more market commentary, follow the MLIV blog.
Here are some events to watch this week:
U.S. new home sales, current account balance on WednesdayEIA crude oil inventory report due WednesdayBank of England interest rate decision ThursdayThe Fed releases Thursday the results of stress tests on the largest U.S. banks
These are some of the main moves in financial markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 1:57 p.m. New York timeThe Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7%The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%The MSCI World index rose 0.5%
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changedThe euro rose 0.1% to $1.1935The British pound was little changed at $1.3941The Japanese yen fell 0.4% to 110.68 per dollar
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 1.48%Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at -0.16%Britain’s 10-year yield advanced one basis point to 0.78%
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.8% to $73.04 a barrelGold futures fell 0.2% to $1,778.50 an ounce
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