U.S. equity futures declined on Wednesday morning as investors turned their focus to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony. Powell will kick off his two-day testimony with an address in front of the House Financial Services Committee at 10:00 a.m. New York time.
Powell’s semiannual monetary policy testimony is expected to provide investors with insight into whether or not the Federal Reserve will look to raise interest rates in July following its rate pause in June.
Dow Jones e-minis were down 0.05% or 17 points on Wednesday morning, while S&P 500 e-minis slid by 1.25 points, or 0.03%. Nasdaq 100 e-minis fell 12.5 points, or 0.08%.
Cryptocurrencies were on the rise, with crypto firms Bit Digital, Coinbase, Marathon Digital, and Riot Platforms rising between 2.5% and 6.7%. U.S.-listed Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers were also on the rise, with Li Auto, Nio Inc and Xpeng Inc rising between 1.8% and 3.5%. This comes after China announced 520 billion yuan ($72.3 billion) worth of tax breaks to boost EV sales over the next four years.