By Saumya Vaishampayan
U.S. stock futures held steady Wednesday as investors looked
ahead to a second day of testimony from Federal Reserve Chairwoman
Janet Yellen.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added one point to 18187.
S&P 500 futures slipped two points, or 0.1%, to 2112 and
Nasdaq-100 futures fell six points, or 0.1%, to 4444. Changes in
stock futures don't always accurately predict moves in the stock
market after the opening bell.
European stocks fell modestly. France's CAC 40 slipped 0.1% and
Germany's DAX fell less than 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined
0.3%, pulling back from an all-time high.
Ms. Yellen will be in focus once again. She testifies before the
House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m. EST.
Stocks pushed to fresh records Tuesday after Ms. Yellen
indicated the central bank is moving toward raising interest rates
later this year as the economy improves. The Dow advanced 0.5% to
18209.19, its second record for the year. The S&P rose 0.3% to
2115.48 for its fourth closing high in 2015.
Stocks rose on the "interpretation that there's not going to be
a sharp rise in rates," said Douglas Burtnick, senior investment
manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.
The Fed's easy monetary policy has helped stocks rally since the
financial crisis. Even when the Fed begins to raise interest rates,
many investors say stocks can continue to gain as rates will remain
relatively low.
Mr. Burtnick said he's watching retail earnings this week to see
if consumers are beginning to spend more money. "In general, the
notion that lower gasoline prices and higher job creation provide a
nice tailwind to consumption is a good thesis," he said. "We're
curious how things went during the course of the fourth quarter. A
lot will be learned in the next day or two."
On Wednesday morning, Target Corp. reported fourth-quarter
earnings topped analysts' views due to strong 3.8% growth in
same-store sales. TJX Cos. Inc. is scheduled to report at 9:30 a.m.
EST Wednesday.
In commodity markets, crude-oil futures were nearly flat at
$49.28. Gold futures added 0.8% to $1207.20.
Action was muted in the Treasury market as well, with the
10-year note yield inching down to 1.982% from 1.987% on Tuesday.
Bond yields fall as prices rise.
Investors will get another read on the housing market Wednesday.
New home sales are expected to fall 1.7% in January to 473,000,
according to economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this week, data showed that sales of previously owned homes
in January fell to the slowest pace in nine months.
In earnings news, Lowe's Cos. posted fourth-quarter results that
topped analysts' expectations. The company said the
home-improvement industry should see modestly stronger growth this
year. Shares rose 2.5% in premarket trade.
Write to Saumya Vaishampayan at saumya.vaishampayan@wsj.com
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