Stocks fell early Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was set to foreshadow in testimony before Congress more rate hikes this year.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) were both down about 0.3% at the open. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell nearly 0.5%.
“Nearly all FOMC participants expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year,” Powell said in prepared remarks released before the start of a House Financial Services Committee hearing Wednesday.
An unexpected spat flared up after President Joe Biden called China’s President Xi Jinping a “dictator” on Wednesday. That’s seen as undermining efforts by both sides to rekindle relations between the US and the world’s second-biggest economy.
For more on this story and its update, please visit Yahoofinance.com.