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Congress will hear Jerome Powell’s semiannual report on the state of the economy.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images/Graeme Jennings)
Stocks were set to open slightly higher on Wednesday, ahead of two days of Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, as markets continue to squabble over inflation fears. Futures in the stock market
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index that measures how well
82 points, or 0.2 percent, were obtained, while
S&P 500 Index
Futures increased by 0.4 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite Index
Futures increased by 0.7 percent.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to begin two days of testimony on Capitol Hill, where he will present Congress with his semiannual economic report. The Fed’s policy stance is expected to be emphasized by the central banker. “Today, a group of non-economists will question a non-economist about complicated economic issues,” said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. “The whole thing is going to devolve into a partisan brawl, which isn’t going to help markets.” Powell’s testimony comes after the consumer price index in the United States increased by 0.9 percent from May to June, reigniting concerns about inflation. The CPI increased at the fastest monthly rate since 2008. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the producer-price index increased 7.3 percent year over year in June, exceeding expectations of 6.8 percent. “The US CPI released yesterday confirms whatever you thought about inflation before it was released,” Donovan said. “Either inflation isn’t a problem at all, or a Weimar-style hyperinflation is on the way—all you have to do is manipulate the numbers to suit your bias. A small number of prices increased dramatically, but some parts of the index are experiencing outright deflation.” Tokyo is the most populous city in Asia.
225 Nikkei
Hong Kong’s stock index fell 0.4 percent.
Seng Hang
decreased by 0.6 percent. The
Shanghai Composite (Shanghai Composite)
The price of the stock dropped by 1.1 percent. The
FTSE 100 is a stock market index that measures the performance of
In London, the pan was 0.4 percent lower.
-European
600 Stoxx
fell by 0.1 percent The
CAC 40 (California Association of College
In Paris, the stock market fell 0.1 percent, while in Frankfurt, the stock market down 0.1 percent.
DAX
Little had changed. The travel industry took a beating, with shares in airlines leading the way lower.
TUI,
The world’s largest tourism company, with hotels, planes, and cruises under its belt. TUI’s price has plummeted, while airline stocks have risen.
Air France-KLM is a Dutch airline.
Lufthansa,
Ryanair,
and
IAG
—the owner of British Airways—has plummeted, as have shares in the hotel behemoth.
The InterContinental Hotels Group is a collection of hotels owned by the InterContinental Hotel
Major British multinationals, which conduct business in dollars and are vulnerable to currency fluctuations, saw their stock prices fall sharply. Sterling gained more than 0.2 percent against the dollar after U.K. inflation statistics showed a rise in consumer prices and a relative fall in production prices.
Unilever,
Vodafone,
GlaxoSmithKline,
and
Tobacco from the United Kingdom and the United States
In London, they were among the losers.
Wells Fargo & Company
The shares of Wells Fargo & Co. (ticker: WFC) climbed 0.3 percent after the company reported a profit of $1.38 per share, topping projections of 98 cents per share, on revenue of $20.3 billion, which was higher than expectations of $17.8 billion.
Bank of America is a financial institution based in the United
The stock of Bank of America (BAC) fell 1.4 percent after the company reported a profit of 80 cents per share, topping projections of 77 cents per share, on sales of $21.6 billion, which fell short of expectations of $21.8 billion.
Citigroup
The stock rose 1.5 percent after the company reported a profit of $2.85 per share, topping predictions of $1.96 per share, on revenue of $17.5 billion, which was more than the $17.2 billion expected.
Delta Airlines is a commercial airline based in Atlanta, Georgia.
(DAL) shares rose 1.75 percent after the company reported a loss of $1.07 per share, less than analysts’ projections of $1.38 per share, on sales of $7.1 billion, which were higher than predictions of $6.2 billion. Stocks in
Hugo Boss is a well-known fashion designer.
After the German luxury fashion group reported earnings before interest and taxes of €42 million ($49.5 million), exceeding expectations of around €17 million, the stock rose nearly 6%.
Barratt
One of the UK’s largest housing developers said in a trading update that it expects full-year profit before tax to be above the top end of the market’s expectations, causing the stock to rise 1%.
Peloton Interactive is a company that creates interactive content.
The stock of PTON fell 2.4 percent after Wedbush downgraded it from Outperform to Neutral. Jacob Sonenshine can be reached at jacob.sonenshine@barrons.com./n
